Mesa Water District

The Mesa Water District is a special district that manages water distribution to most of Costa Mesa, a portion of Newport Beach, and John Wayne Airport.

History
The city of Costa Mesa, having been incorporated in 1953, provided municipal services such as a water supply to its residents. In 1957, the city held a special bond election for the construction of water-related infrastructure, which failed. During this period, various other water districts had been in operation in the Costa Mesa area, including the Newport Heights Irrigation District (formed 1918), the Fairview County Water District (formed 1946), and the Newport Mesa County Water District (formed 1954), which had previously replaced the Newport Mesa Irrigation District. With the multiple districts and the city having overlapping boundaries, Governor Edmund Brown, Sr. signed the Costa Mesa District Merger Law in 1959, which combined the districts and city services into one. Officially designated as the Costa Mesa County Water District, the district began operations on January 1, 1960.

In 1978, legislation was adopted to change the name to the Mesa Consolidated Water District. In January 2013, following a $500,000 rebranding effort, the district again changed their name to the Mesa Water District.

Mesa Water District began exploring the possibility of a merger with the Costa Mesa Sanitary District in 2016. Mesa Water was in support of the merger, with the Sanitary District opposed to it. The question of a merger was put before the voters in an advisory measure, 2016's Measure TT. The measure passed, but as an advisory measure had no legal effect, and the Costa Mesa Sanitary District remained opposed and sued the Mesa Water District. In 2018, the lawsuit was finally settled.

Mesa Water has faced controversies following rate increases in 2010, 2017, and 2022.

Governance
Mesa Water District is governed by a five-member Board of Directors, each elected to a four-year term. Each director is elected by geographic division and has been since the districts formation in 1960. The current members of the Board are: