IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
A local water district has officially taken control of land next to a lake in Southwest Riverside County.
Rancho California Water District closed escrow Monday on nearly 8,000 acres that wraps around Vail Lake, a popular recreation site, according to a report in The Press-Enterprise.
The water district, which provides water to about 140,000 residents in the Temecula Valley, agreed to pay $49.77 million for the property during a bankruptcy hearing earlier this month, the report stated.
Vail Lake provides fishing, camping and boating and hosts several annual events. Some people expressed concerns that Rancho California might pull the plug on those activities, but no decision has been made regarding the lake’s future.
Rancho California already owns the lake and the rights to its water, and it’s been trying to buy the surrounding property for years. The district uses water from Vail Lake to supplement an underground reservoir that supplies the area with much of its drinking water, according to the report.
