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Rainbow approves lease agreement for Bonsall Reservoir site

The Rainbow Municipal Water District's inactive Bonsall Reservoir is currently being leased for nursery use. Rainbow staff has been evaluating whether the site would be suitable for a photovoltaic energy generation facility but, until a decision is made, Rainbow has been providing agricultural leases.

On May 25, Rainbow's board voted 5-0 to approve a new two-year lease with nursery operator Don Dabbs. Dabbs will pay $1,683 per month retroactive to Jan. 1, and the lease will run until Dec. 31, 2022. The agreement also has provisions of a potential 12-month renewal term or continuation of the lease on a month-to-month basis should Rainbow proceed on a solar generation facility or choose to sell the property.

"We re-set his lease agreement to the market rate," said Rainbow General Manager Tom Kennedy.

The land is on Via Urner. Returning the Bonsall Reservoir to service would require extensive rehabilitation and would not provide any operational benefit, so the district has no plans to return the reservoir to service.

Rainbow has also considered a solar energy site at the inactive Beck Reservoir, but San Diego Gas & Electric informed Rainbow that the district would need to upgrade their facilities at Rainbow's expense in order to take the power. SDG&E has also indicated that the utility would not set a meter solely to provide a net metering option. Rainbow is investigating a program which would allow the district to generate power at one site and use it at another, but the credit would be lower than that for a residential net metering arrangement.

"We're evaluating the site for a potential solar farm but, should that not work out, we'll put it on the market and sell the land," Kennedy said.

The Bonsall Reservoir site has been under a long-term lease to Dabbs, who complements his other operations with the reservoir site. "He has a huge plot of land next to it," Kennedy said.

The most recent five-year extension of the lease for $7,500 expired in 2020. A 2019 appraisal of the land determined a fair market rental rate of $1,683 per month, and Dabbs was willing to continue the lease at that rate.

Author Bio

Joe Naiman, Writer

Joe Naiman has been writing for the Village News since 2001

 

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