Council adopts Carlsbad Municipal Water District code amendments over citizen objections

The City Council serving concurrently as the Carlsbad Municipal Water District Board on Oct. 13 unanimously adopted Ordinance No. 51, amending portions of the Carlsbad Municipal Water District Code, after a brief public comment from a resident engaged in litigation concerning the city’s recycled‑water infrastructure.

Mike Borrello, a longtime Carlsbad resident who identified himself as a petitioner in a pending writ action in San Diego Superior Court, asked the council to postpone adoption and to investigate what he described as health risks related to purple‑pipe recycled water and endpoint spray irrigation. He cited academic work and expressed concern over potential pathogens and indemnification provisions in the proposed code changes. Borrello urged the council to table the ordinance and to inform users before changes that, in his view, limit city accountability.

City staff and the council did not take up the request to table. A councilmember moved adoption of the ordinance, a second was offered, and the ordinance passed unanimously. The city attorney reported earlier in the meeting that there was no reportable closed‑session action.

The adopted ordinance replaces Title 2 provisions in the district code and updates administrative and operational language; council did not amend the ordinance on the floor. The vote constitutes final adoption by the governing body. No additional study or independent testing was directed at the meeting.

The ordinance’s text and the district code amendments will be posted with the city’s official ordinance records. Borrello’s comments and citations (he referenced the California Water Code and Title 22 testing standards in his remarks) were entered into the public record; however the council did not adopt his recommendation to delay action or to expand the city’s testing or notification protocols during this hearing.