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Moulton Niguel Water District

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Moulton Niguel Water District
Special district overview
FormedNovember 18, 1960 (1960-11-18)
Headquarters
  • Joone Kim-Lopez, General Manager/CEO
Websitehttps://www.mnwd.com/

The Moulton Niguel Water District (MNWD) is an independent special district that provides water and sewer service to portions of Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo, Mission Viejo, Laguna Hills, Dana Point, and San Juan Capistrano.[1]

History

[edit]

Moulton Niguel Water District was formed on November 18, 1960[2] to serve eight customers.[3] Four years later, after the California Water District Act was amended, MNWD began providing wastewater services in addition to potable water.[4]

Carl Kymla was General Manager of MNWD is 1978 when he and four other MNWD officials misappropriated public property by using MNWD equipment and employees in a personal capacity.[5] Kymla was indicted, and following a 1979 agreement with prosecutors, resigned from his position.[6]

The district was originally formed as a landowner district, where the only residents allowed to vote for Board Members were those who owned land.[7] Sometime after a 1979 lawsuit against the Irvine Ranch Water District, MNWD agreed to become a publicly elected board.[8]

Sewage spills related to MNWD caused closures at Doheny State Beach in 1987[9], 1988[10][11], 1991[12], 1992[13][14], 1997[15], 1998[16], 17 separate spills from 1999 to 2000[17][18][19][20], and 2001.[21]

A 1987 water main break along Marguerite Parkway caused the closure of that road for over a month.[22]

A 1996 bill by Speaker Curt Pringle proposed merging the El Toro Water District with MNWD, though the bill ultimately did not pass.[23] In 2002, MNWD studied consolidation with the El Toro Water District. Ultimately, both Boards decided not to move forward with the merger.[24][25]

Two home builders filed lawsuits against MNWD in 2012, arguing that pinhole leaks in copper water piping in their homes was due to faulty water treatment with chloramine. Pinhole leaks cause expensive damage to people's homes, and the builders claim that they must repipe houses at great expense to deal with the problem. Officials observed that only the two builders have filed suit, but as of late 2013 the number of lawsuits had expanded.[26][27]

MNWD initially expressed interest in joining with other agencies in the construction of a desalination plant near San Juan Creek in 2016, but later backed out of the arrangement.[28]

In 2016, MNWD halted payment of invoices to the South Orange County Wastewater Authority (SOCWA) related to their Coastal Treatment Plant, as MNWD rarely needed the sewage capacity and believed they should not have to pay for services that were not used by their customers.[29] SOCWA's three other member agencies sued MNWD for failing terms of its contract which obligated payments to SOCWA. Those other agencies, called the PC 15 Agencies, sent campaign literature attacking MNWD claiming that MNWD would institute a "toilet tax," a claim the District rebuffed.[30] After three years, in 2019, MNWD was ordered to pay its past invoices and SOCWA's legal fees, totaling $4.8 million.[29] The settlement further stipulated that the contract is valid through 2030, and that MNWD must continue payments until then.[31][32]

Then-Board President Duane Cave pleaded guilty to falsifying election nomination paperwork for the 2024 election in November 2025.[33] An investigation by the District Attorney revealed that he declared within the district's boundaries, in Aliso Viejo, when in reality he lived with his wife in Rancho Santa Margarita. He resigned from his seat.

Also in 2025, Board Member Bill Moorhead was accused of misconduct, with those concerns being verified by MNWD staff.[34] A resolution condemning Moorhead for his comments was agendized for a Board meeting, but ultimately failed.[34] Orange County Employees Association members walked out of the meeting after the vote.

Governance

[edit]

The Moulton Niguel Water District is governed by a seven-member Board of Directors, each elected to a four-year term by district. The current members of the Board are:

Board Member Term began Term ends
Diane Rifkin 2022 2026
Donald Froelich 2022 2026
Bill Moorhead 2022 2026
Brian Parker 2025 2026
Brian Probolsky 2024 2028
Richard Fiore 2024 2028
Sherry Wanninger 2024 2028

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "Home". MNWD. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  2. ↑ "TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEETING MOULTON NIGUEL WATER DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS" (PDF). 4 January 2021. Retrieved 7 July 2026.
  3. ↑ Register, Maggy Donaldson | Orange County; Register, Mary Decker | Orange County (2016-02-17). "South Orange County history: Water is today's California gold". Orange County Register. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  4. ↑ "Moulton Niguel Water District Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2017" (PDF). ocauditor.gov. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2026.
  5. ↑ Hall, Len (1993-10-09). "O.C.'s Kymla Quits MWD Board : Utilities: 20-year member, indicted on tax-evasion charges, cites only 'personal problems' in resignation letter". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  6. ↑ Lynch, Rene (1993-06-16). "Water Director Indicted for Taxes : Charges: Carl Kymla of the county municipal district underreported taxable income, federal officials say". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  7. ↑ Bailey, Eric; Platte, Mark (1994-03-01). "O.C. Scandal Prompts Bill to Limit Gifts". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  8. ↑ Hall, Len (1993-04-04). "O.C. Water District: From Obscurity to Notoriety : Utilities: Conflict-of-interest allegations put formerly little-known Santa Margarita agency in the spotlight". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  9. ↑ Jones, Lanie (1987-06-30). "South County Coast Hit by Discharge of Sewage". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  10. ↑ Grant, Gordon (1988-07-09). "Raw Sewage Spill Closes 1,000 Feet of Doheny Beach". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  11. ↑ Grant, Gordon (1988-07-14). "Sewage Diluted, Doheny Beach Reopened". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  12. ↑ Maharaj, Davan (1991-04-11). "Beach Closure by Sewage Spill Riles Residents". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  13. ↑ Messina, Frank (1992-01-10). "Spill Caused by Outage Keeps Beaches Closed". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  14. ↑ Hernandez, Greg (1992-01-14). "LAGUNA BEACH : Beaches Reopened After Sewage Spill". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  15. ↑ Archives, L. A. Times (1997-01-22). "Sewage Spill Closes Part of Doheny Beach". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  16. ↑ Reyes, David (1998-02-19). "Sewage Spills, Beach Closures Blamed on El Nino Storms". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  17. ↑ "$83,000 Fine for Agency's Sewage Spills". Los Angeles Times. 2000-09-14. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  18. ↑ Becerra, Hector (2000-04-16). "Sewage Spills May Mean Fines for a City and Water District". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  19. ↑ Sanitate, Eric C. (2000-03-21). "DANA POINT". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  20. ↑ Mehta, Seema (2000-02-02). "Sewage Spill Closes Stretch of Doheny State Beach". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  21. ↑ Haldane, David (2001-04-03). "Blocked Line, Power Outage Sends Sewage to 2 Beaches". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  22. ↑ Archives, L. A. Times (1987-10-06). "Mission Viejo : Marguerite Parkway Reopened to Traffic". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  23. ↑ Bailey, Eric (1996-09-01). "Senate Sinks Pringle Bill to Merge Water Districts". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-12-23.
  24. ↑ "El Toro Water District 1960-2010" (PDF). Historical Society of Laguna Woods. June 2010. Retrieved 2025-12-22.
  25. ↑ "Municipal Service Review & Sphere of Influence Study for South Orange County II" (PDF). Orange County LAFCO. May 2007. Retrieved 2025-12-22.
  26. ↑ http://www.ocregister.com/articles/water-340682-leaks-copper.html, "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-07-29. Retrieved 2012-10-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  27. ↑ "Articles | A to Z Leak Detection". Archived from the original on 2014-05-22. Retrieved 2014-06-23.
  28. ↑ Ritchie, Erika I.; Register, The Orange County (2016-03-30). "Southern California Desalination Plant Moves Forward". GovTech. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  29. 1 2 Register, Martin Wisckol | Orange County (2019-05-20). "Moulton Niguel Water District agrees to pay $4.8 million in wastewater dispute". Orange County Register. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  30. ↑ "Water district says 'there is no toilet tax' despite claims in south Orange County campaign email". Orange County Register. 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  31. ↑ Sclafani, Julia (2019-05-21). "Moulton Niguel Water District to pay $4.8 million in settlement of treatment plant dispute". Daily Pilot. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  32. ↑ Sclafani, Julia (2019-03-01). "Water district is obligated to pay its share of costs for Laguna wastewater treatment plant until 2030, judge says". Daily Pilot. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  33. ↑ Healy, Chase (2025-11-10). "Moulton Niguel Water District President Duane Cave Pleads Guilty to Falsifying Nomination Paperwork to Run for Re-election when he Lied about Living within the Water District Boundaries Orange County District Attorney's Office Demanded Cave Immediately Resign from Moulton Niguel Water District". Orange County District Attorney. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  34. 1 2 Biesiada, Noah (2025-12-01). "Misconduct Questions Swirl Around Water District Boardmember in South OC". Voice of OC. Retrieved 2026-07-07.

33°34′59″N 117°42′09″W / 33.5831°N 117.7024°W / 33.5831; -117.7024

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