California’s Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that the City of Santa Cruz is obligated to provide water service to all parts of the UC Santa Cruz residential campus.
The decision reverses a lower court’s 2022 ruling. The court also ruled that the campus does not need to seek approval from the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) before receiving city water service in the north campus areas.
“We welcome this decision by the Sixth Court of Appeals and the clarity it provides,” Chancellor Cynthia Larive said. “We appreciate the justices’ careful review of this case.”
UC Santa Cruz is pursuing an ambitious plan to provide more than 40 percent additional student housing by 2030. In the future, providing water service to all parts of the residential campus will further help UC Santa Cruz provide housing, classrooms, and space for research and creative scholarship, and fulfill its commitment to the local community and faculty, staff, and students.
Campus and city leaders tried to settle the disagreement for several years. UC Santa Cruz asked the courts in 2020 to resolve the contractual dispute.
The UC Board of Regents and the City of Santa Cruz signed agreements in 1962 and 1965 that include commitments for water service. Even before the campus was built, the city agreed to provide the site, which has included at all times the property located in the northern regions of campus (North Campus) and the property immediately adjacent to campus located west and south of Empire Grade, with access to essential services including water.
In expanding access to higher education for California's residents, state leaders envisioned UC Santa Cruz to be a comprehensive research university that would eventually grow and educate thousands of students annually. Its 2,000-acre residential campus would be home to residential colleges and other housing, academic buildings, and other facilities. For nearly 40 years the city complied and honored these agreements with little or no dispute.
The disagreement has not been about campus water usage, which the campus has significantly reduced over the past 15 years. UC Santa Cruz has a proven track record of carefully managing—and reducing—its water use. The campus is using less water than it did 25 years ago, while serving many more students.
The campus's strategic water master plan, developed in 2007 and fully implemented in 2013, has enabled the campus to save approximately 30 million gallons annually. The campus continues to look for innovative ways to reduce water use and to reuse water, including updating its leak detection system and building a water-catchment system as part of the Kresge College renewal.
UC Santa Cruz has been an integral part of the Santa Cruz community for more than half a century. Learn more at ucsc.edu/better-together.
