By Mary O’KEEFE

CVW was contacted by residents in the Hermosa Avenue area of Montrose. They had read the CVW article regarding candidates for the Crescenta Valley Water District (CVWD) board who are on this November’s ballot. The question they asked was regarding who voted for the candidates

In the article CVW stated, “Those who are in the CVWD service area are eligible to vote for these candidates.”

That statement needs a correction and an explanation – which dates back to the annexing of the area by Glendale in 1951.

“When the voters voted to set up the Crescenta Valley Water District, part of what they voted on had to do with the legal boundaries of the district,” said a CVWD representative.

The people who vote for CVWD board candidates live within those boundaries but those who live outside the boundaries, though they might still be served by the district, don’t vote for the candidates, according to the representative.

The CVWD representative said he understands it is confusing; however, the annexing of areas by Glendale has never been simple.

“After World War II, Metropolitan Water District was formed to bring in water from the Colorado River because the population was growing so much. Residents realized they needed water from the Colorado River. Metropolitan is allowed to sell water to cities or to local governments. So La Crescenta [Montrose] was split down the middle, and the residents on the west side [of the split] voted to annex to Glendale so that they could get metropolitan water from Glendale. The people on the east side of La Crescenta and the town of La Cañada [Flintridge] both voted to form the Foothill Municipal Water District. … So they get their water from Metropolitian, but it is indirect. It goes from Metropolitan to Foothill to Crescenta Valley Water District,” the representative explained.

CVWD was formed about the same time – 1950 – that parts of Montrose-La Crescenta were annexed to Glendale. At that time there were many smaller water companies in the area, including one in the area of Hermosa Avenue; however, the residents near Pine Cone Road, for example, were served by a different company. These private water companies joined the newly formed CVWD so they could access Metropolitan water.

So while legal boundaries are a part of the answer so are water pipelines and which water municipality owns them – Glendale Water & Power or CVWD.

“So the [CV] Water District took those [pipelines] over despite the fact they [were] outside its boundary and [CVWD] furnished water that way,” the representative said.

Which is why some customers pay both GWP and CVWD.

James Lee, CVWD general manager, said the district is aware of this confusing situation and has talked with the City of Glendale in the past about rectifying it.

“Sometimes there are two water mains on the same street – one serves one side [CVWD] and one serves the other [GWP],” he said.

It is this 73-year-old annexation decision/vote that determines which residents vote for CVWD candidates and which do not. This issue has been discussed and debated for years; the best advice for residents who are outside the voting realm of CVWD: speak to Glendale City Council members about being under one umbrella – that of the GWP.