ABOUT US

California Domestic Water Company is a not-for-profit mutual water company offering shareholders and their customers a reliable, local resource that eliminates or significantly reduces the need to purchase more expensive imported water from Northern California or the Colorado River.

The Company’s system begins in Los Angeles County and ends in north Orange County, crossing through El Monte, Industry, Whittier, La Habra, La Habra Heights, and Brea. Along the way, strict quality testing protocols ensure drinking water meets all state and federal safety standards.

COMMUNITY

Collaboration

Commitment

Community

Collaboration

Commitment

Our History

Our History

Community

Installing the 48-inch M-line, the main delivery pipeline that provides water for all Company shareholders.

Service You Can Rely On

California Domestic Water Company operates an extensive system of treatment facilities, wells, pumps and pipelines to deliver water to our shareholders. Through thoughtful investments and carefully planned maintenance, we provide a reliable and cost-effective water supply resources for our three majority shareholders.

Serving our Majority Shareholders

California Domestic Water Company is a not-for-profit mutual water company that delivers water exclusively to shareholders. The current shareholders consist of three wholesale water providers. The Company is governed by a Board of Directors elected by shareholders.

To ensure water quality, the Company is regulated under provisions of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. The Company must comply with rules imposed by Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Local Agency Formation Commission, and South Coast Air Quality Management District, as well as local, state, and federal rules and regulations.

Simplifying Service for Retail Customers

Over the last 25 years, California Domestic Water Company has been taking steps to become a 100% wholesale water provider. Since the Company’s retail shareholders account for a small percentage of total water deliveries, the Company aims to streamline operations and resources to better serve its shareholders and their customers.

About 160 residential properties are shareholders. The Company no longer maintains any retail water facilities, which means these shareholders are serviced through the City of La Habra and Suburban Water Systems. Those systems charge the Company for services to those shareholders, and the Company then bills shareholders at the Company’s established rates.

To streamline water service and billing, the Company is offering to buy back shares from retail shareholders and move those accounts to the appropriate water provider.

Why Move Retail Shareholders to Other Water Providers?

Although the Company was originally established to deliver water to both wholesale and retail shareholders, California Domestic Water Company is now more effectively designed to serve our wholesale shareholders with reliable groundwater through an extensive infrastructure of transmission pipelines stretching more than 25 miles from the City of El Monte to the City of Brea.

Transitioning retail shareholders to their appropriate retail water provider will provide them with conveniences and efficiencies not currently offered by the Company.

Customer Benefits

New customers at City of La Habra or Suburban Water Systems would benefit from greater convenience in bill paying, as those water providers have thousands of retail customers and offer electronic payment options in their billing systems.

The Company’s rates for retail shareholders are typically higher than what retail water providers charge. Water utility providers that serve thousands of retail properties can extend to their customers the cost advantage of economies of scale. The Company’s low number of retail shareholders contributes to higher costs. Contact us for a personalized rate comparison based on your historical water consumption.

Retail shareholders who become customers of either City of La Habra or Suburban Water Systems would receive water from the same source that they receive now.

Access to water conservation incentives, such as rebates and water conservation promotional items offered by the City of La Habra and Suburban Water Systems.

Collaboration

Planning for the Future

California Domestic Water Company is committed to building and sustaining the resources needed to provide shareholders with a resilient water supply and diverse water rights portfolio, now and for the future.

A Plan Created with Shareholders In Mind

Collaboration. Community. Commitment. is an illustration of California Domestic Water Company’s dedication to engaging shareholders and ensuring their input and recommendations are thoughtfully represented in the Company’s future vision and planning. A primary tenet of the process, the Strategic Planning Committee asked CV Strategies to facilitate a series of meetings with shareholders designed to solicit comments directly related to water operations, capital planning, outreach and regional leadership. The Company is firmly committed to maintaining an open dialogue with its shareholders and continuously providing a forum, whether through this planning process or through regular meetings and correspondence, to obtain constructive feedback.

The Company developed a Strategic Plan to guide the organization as it works to provide highly competitive water service while supporting stewardship of the region’s precious water supply. This document reflects the Company’s planning goals, including an organizational analysis and a series of strategic initiatives that will help the Company achieve its long-term vision. The Strategic Plan is a living document that is intended to evolve with the Company.

Highlights

Shareholders generally believe they are receiving good value, exceptional service and superior system reliability at a fair price. They are confident that the Company is well positioned to address emerging contaminant concerns, water supply needs and other issues as they arise.
Shareholders appreciate the Company’s focus on succession planning and long term capital improvements.
Shareholders believe the Company’s communications are sufficient, but are interested in additional engagement tools to assist in their outreach to their retail customers.
The Company’s participation in local and regional organizations is a benefit to shareholders, and they appreciate the direct representation on their behalf.
Shareholders welcome the Company’s attitude of trust and openness and acknowledge a mutual responsibility and shared commitment to prioritizing thoughtful collaboration and engagement now and in the future.

Commitment

Delivering Clean, Safe Water is our Top Priority

Extensive Sampling and Testing for Quality Assurance

Cal Domestic operates and maintains advanced water treatment systems and conducts extensive sampling and testing to ensure the water delivered to Shareholders meets all health and safety requirements. Each year, Cal Domestic collects more than 2,000 samples that are tested for constituents as required by state and federal regulations. The findings are reported in Cal Domestic’s annual Consumer Confidence Report.

Proactive Maintenance for Optimum Water Operations

California Domestic Water Company operates and maintains three primary treatment facilities to ensure that the water supplied to shareholders meets or exceeds all water quality regulations and standards. The Company’s Air Stripper Treatment Facility, Ion Exchange Treatment Facility, and Ultraviolet (UV) Light Treatment Facility each utilize state-of-the-art technologies to treat groundwater supplies to meet safe drinking water standards. These essential facilities require frequent scheduled maintenance for effective operation.

Highly Skilled, Certified Operators

The State of California mandates various levels of training, experience, and certification for operators of differing water facilities.

The Company’s system is rated at the highest level of complexity, requiring Grade 5 certification for the treatment system and Grade 4 certification for the distribution system.

Che Venegas, the Director of Water Operations, is certified as a Grade 5 operator in both treatment and distribution—one of only about 70 people in California with this dual top-level certification.

Cal Domestic’s Team of Certified Operators

Position T = Treatment D = Distribution
Senior Water Utility Worker T4 D5
Senior Water Utility Worker T4 D5
Water Utility Worker II T3 D3

Water Reliability and Value

With water rights originating in the 1850s, the Company provides shareholders with a reliable water supply by securing affordable regional water resources in the Main San Gabriel Basin. The south Puente Hills stretches from the San Gabriel River to Brea. The Company’s shareholders enjoy a unique alternative to importing expensive water from Northern California, especially during droughts or other water supply emergencies that shut down local wells.

Cadway, Inc.

Cadway was formed in 1964 to manage the housing and properties owned by the Company. At that time, water system operators received company housing near the system so they could efficiently monitor the facilities. Investments in communications systems lessened the need for company housing, and Cadway divested its ownership of many Company properties. Cadway is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, and both companies share the same employees and Board of Directors.

WAMANCO

WAMANCO—an acronym for “Water Management Company”—manages the water rights owned by the Co-Tenancy. The managing members include three Pellissier family members, one representative of the Company, and one representative of Covina Irrigating Company, another Co-Tenant. The Company provides administrative support for WAMANCO, maintains the files for the Co-Tenants, and receives $5,400 annually for these services.

Pellisier Co-Tenency

The Co-Tenancy of the Laurence R. Pellissier Irrevocable QTIP Trust, et al. (Co-Tenancy) was formed in 2002. The Co-Tenancy provides each of the more than 40 participants a percentage interest in 6,490 acre-feet of prescriptive pumping rights in the Main San Gabriel Basin. Both the Company and Cadway hold ownership interests in the Co-Tenancy. As of June 30, 2019, Cadway owned a 13.11509% interest in the Co-Tenancy and the Company owned a 11.62798% interest in the Co-Tenancy, for a total interest of 24.74307%, representing 1,605.83 acre-feet.