III. Issues Included in the Settlement Agreements Between Cal-Am and DRA

In addressing the issues before us, we examine partial settlement agreements for the Monterey and Felton districts and GO expenses for all nine of Cal-Am's California districts.

We review these settlements, all of which are contested, pursuant to Rule 12.1(d), which provides that, prior to approval, the Commission must find a settlement "reasonable in light of the whole record, consistent with the law, and in the public interest."¹⁶ Cal-Am and DRA state each settlement is an integrated agreement, so that if the Commission rejects any portion of the settlement, each party has the right to withdraw. Further, they state that approval of the agreements should not be construed as a precedent or statement of policy of any kind for or against any party in any current or future proceeding.

We will first review the Monterey district application, beginning with the partial settlement, then the issues not included in the proposed settlement. We will then proceed to the Felton district application, reviewing first the settlement and then the issues not included in the settlement. Lastly, we separately review the GO settlement.

¹⁶ The Commission's revised Rules of Practice and Procedure became effective on September 13, 2006. The requirements of Rule 51.1(e) are now contained in Rule 12.1(d).