California Water Utilities Looking to Avoid Wildfire Liability
A group of California water utilities is pushing the state’s legislators to shield the companies from paying for damages caused by forest fires. The group, called the Coalition for Fire Protection and Accountability, is specifically seeking refuge from lawsuits that have targeted the state’s water companies for failing to provide the water necessary to fight the fires.
Why California Water Utilities are Under Pressure
The wildfire liability issue has been top-of-mind for the state’s policymakers since last year, and the PG&E bankruptcy has ramped up the conversation around who pays for what even further. But the water suppliers’ problems actually started over a decade ago.
A 2008 wildfire known as the “freeway fire” destroyed 12 homes, mainly due to a pump station failure that prevented firefighters from accessing the water necessary to effectively fight the fire. The homeowners sued the pump operator – Yorba Linda Water District – and received a $70 million settlement. A similar lawsuit was levied against the City of Ventura in 2017.
Whether or not these lawsuits pass the smell test is open for debate. From the perspective of the Coalition, the pumps were damaged by a fire that the water system operators did not cause, which should remove the liability. But from the other side, the water operators in question could have done more to harden their systems and make them more reliable. And besides, the state’s legal standard – for better or worse – is that utilities must pay for damage caused in any way by their equipment, irrespective of negligence (this is known as “inverse condemnation”).
Should the California water utilities be held at least partially responsible because they didn’t have backup generators which exasperated the 2017 pump failure? That’s open to debate.
Regardless of the outcome of the Coalition’s efforts to remove liability, this situation should serve as a wake-up call for all California water utilities to take a hard look at their emergency plans and protocols to make sure they are as comprehensive and up-to-date as possible.
