San Gabriel County Water District was organized on November 12, 1921 under the provisions of the County Water District Act (Statutes 1913, P. 1049). Under the provisions of this statute the people of any area, which may include either incorporated or unincorporated areas within a county, or both, may organize a District for the purpose of serving its inhabitants with water for all purposes, including domestic, agricultural, and industrial uses. The assets and property of the District are publicly owned, that is, belong to the people in the District, in the same manner as property of a City is owned by the people in the City. The first water board election was held on January 10, 1922. The first meeting of the Board of Directors of the San Gabriel County Water District was held on February 20, 1922 at the District’s office, then located at 538 West Mission Drive, San Gabriel. When the District was first organized, it included property lying within the City of San Gabriel and also unincorporated areas lying outside of that City. Since that time, there have been several annexation proceedings whereby additional areas have been added to the District and at the present time approximately 60% of the area of the District lies within the City of San Gabriel and 40% in the City of Rosemead, City of Temple City and unincorporated County areas. Under the provisions of the County Water District Act, the control and supervision of the affairs and business of the District is vested in a Board of Directors who are elected by the voters of the District in a like manner as the voters in a City elect a City Council to transact the affairs and business of a City. The Board approves and authorizes all expenditures of the District funds and establishes rates to be charged for water, and may, if necessary, levy taxes for the payment of District bonds or operating expenses. The Board of Directors is composed of five members, who must be residents of the District. The Board has endeavored to keep advised of all conditions affecting your water supply at all times. It has made an intensive study of these conditions throughout the years and has secured and protected its water rights and has planned its system so that the District will be able to meet all requirements of the community it serves. The District now has 9,064 active services serving approximately 45,000 people, within an area of 2,680 acres. The District has three reservoirs with a combined water storage capacity of 12.8 million gallons. Currently six active wells supply water to meet the customers’ needs. At this time there are 82 miles of water mains delivering water to the customers’ meters.
