upr000284 67

Hr. Wm. Reinhardt Page 3 July 6, 1951 You are f a m ilia r with Chapter 23 passed by the C a lifo r n ia L e g is la tu re o f 1949 e n t it le d BAn Act p ro v id in g f o r a d e c la ra tio n o f a water shortage emergency by the governing body o f a d is t r ib u t o r o f a p u b lic water supply, a u th o riz in g the re g u la tio n and r e s t r ic t io n o f w ater d e liv e r ie s and consumption during a water shortage emergency and d e c la rin g the urgency th e r e o f”. This A ct, as you know, p rovid es among oth er th in gs, th at a f t e r the governing body o f such a w ater d is t r ib u ­to r s h a ll fin d an emergency e x is t s , i t may issu e regu­la t io n s , in c lu d in g the rlg£it to deny a p p lic a tio n s fo r new or a d d it io n a l w ater service connections, su bje c t however, to p r io r approval o f the P u blic U t i l i t i e s Com­m ission. As I have a d vise d you, the Utah P u b lic Service Commission apparently b e lie v e s th at i t i s auth orized to r e s t r i c t a l l new connections under the presen t gen eral p ro v isio n s o f the Code and I fin d that the C a lifo rn ia P u b lic U t i l i t i e s Commission has lik e w is e taken the same a c tio n based on i t s g en eral powers under the P u b lic U t i l i t i e s Act and apparently w ithout re feren ce to Chap­t e r 23 above r e fe r r e d to . In the m atter o f the a p p lic a tio n o f “Independ­ence Acres Water Works” D ecision No. 32168, found in Volume 42, Opinions and Orders o f the R a ilro a d Commission o f C a lifo r n ia , Page 53, the Commission au th orized the Water Works "to r e s t r i c t a l l fu rth e r water se rv ic e to those l o t s h ere to fo re served in the auth orized se rv ic e a re a , togeth er w ith l o t s and p a r c e ls fo r which a p p lic ­a tio n s fo r w ater have been made, a s o f the date o f the Order h e re in ” . The Order was dated July 18, 1939, long p r io r to the passage o f Chapter 23 and made no re fe re n c e to any p a r t ic u la r section of the P u b lic U t i l i t i e s Act and the Commission apparently assumed i t had such blanket power. P r io r , o f course, to the a c tu a l order the Com­m ission found there was In s u f fic ie n t w ater f o r an expan­sion o f the s e rv ic e . In the "A p p lic a tio n o f Gordon B e ll" (D ecision No. 44500, June 27, 1950), the Commission ordered "Pending fu rth e r o rd e r o f the Commission, C lara Blum B a r t le t t s h a ll not fu rn is h water to any new or a d d itio n a l