The East County Advanced Water Purification Joint Powers Authority (the “Authority”) was established on November 1, 2019 pursuant to the Joint Exercise of Powers Act (California Government Code Section 6500 et seq.) and a Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement (“JPA Agreement”) between three “Member Agencies: Padre Dam Municipal Water District (“Padre Dam”), the City of El Cajon (“El Cajon”) and the San Diego County Sanitation District (the “SDCSD”). The Board of Directors of the Authority (“Board”) is composed of Directors representing each Member Agency. Helix Water District (Helix) is a non-voting, ex-officio member of the Authority’s Board. The purpose of the Authority is to plan for, design, construct, own, lease, operate, maintain, repair, and replace a reclamation facility for the purpose of the advanced treatment of wastewater and production of advanced purified water. The Authority is authorized to exercise the powers common to the Member Agencies, powers otherwise permitted under the Joint Exercise of Powers Act, and powers necessary to accomplish the purposes of the JPA Agreement, subject to such restrictions as are applicable to the City of El Cajon, a charter city organized and operating under Article XI of the California Constitution. The Authority is further authorized to do all acts necessary, convenient and appropriate for the exercise of its powers as further described in the JPA Agreement. Ultimately the Authority will serve as a wastewater treatment facility for its three member agencies. The Authority will also produce and sell product water to Helix Water District (Helix) and product and Title 22 water to Padre Dam. The criteria used in determining the scope of the reporting entity is based on the provisions of GASB Code Sections 2100 “Defining the Financial Reporting Entity.” The Authority is the primary government unit. Component units are those entities which are financially accountable to the primary government, either because the Authority appoints a voting majority of the component units board, or because the component unit will provide a financial benefit or impose a financial burden on the Authority. The Authority has no component units.
The accompanying Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (“Schedule”) includes the federal award activity of the Authority under programs of the federal government for the year ended June 30, 2025. The information in this Schedule is presented in accordance with the requirements of Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (“Uniform Guidance”). Because the Schedule presents only a selected portion of the operations of the Authority, it is not intended to and does not present the financial statements of the Authority.
Expenditures reported on the Schedule are reported on the full accrual basis of accounting. Such expenditures are recognized following the cost principles contained in the Uniform Guidance, wherein certain types of expenditures are not allowable or are limited as to reimbursement.
The Authority has not elected to use the de minimis indirect rate as allowed under the Uniform Guidance (10 percent of modified total direct costs for awards issued prior to October 1, 2024 and 15 percent for awards issued or amended on or after October 1, 2024).
The SEFA includes $29.9 million in federal funds under Assistance Listing No. 15.504 (Title XVI) passed through from Padre Dam. These funds represent reimbursement of eligible project expenditures incurred in prior years within the federal award’s approved project period (January 2020 – May 2026). The additional funding resulted from an amendment by the U.S. Department of the Interior that reduced the required local match percentage and increased the federal cost share. Accordingly, the amounts reported on the 2025 SEFA represent reimbursement of expenditures incurred between January 24, 2020 and March 31, 2024. No additional federal project expenditures were incurred by the Authority during fiscal year 2025.
The Authority did not provide any amounts to subrecipients during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025.
Under the terms of federal and state grants, additional audits may be requested by the grantor agencies and certain costs may be questioned as not being appropriate expenditures under the terms of the grants. Such audits could lead to a request for reimbursement to the grantor agencies.
All federal funds received by the Authority are passed through from Padre Dam (Note 1).