“If we were the first domino, then good,” said Scott Boyd, who became president of Montara’s water board after leading the community effort for local control of water.

After suffering for years from high rates, poor service, and neglect under private ownership, residents of the small town of Montara, just south of San Francisco, purchased their water system from RWE/California American Water (Cal-Am) in May 2003. The community had considered buying the water system for years, and in 1999, when the system was sold to American Water, headquartered in New Jersey, residents mobilized to bring the system under local public control.

Residents organized community meetings, a door-to-door operation, and a televised debate and in relatively short order, residents voted by a 4-1 spread to borrow $19 million to buy the system from Cal-Am. At first, the company refused to sell, but the town got a boost from the California Public Utilities Commission. The company bowed down and Montara claimed victory.

A local, voter-elected board now runs the utility and is able to use municipal financing — the cheapest available — to improve the infrastructure. “We don’t have to show a profit,” says Scott Boyd, president of Montara’s water board, “We get a bang for our buck by serving our citizens.”