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Officials from the Calleguas Municipal Water District filed a
legal complaint against Selleck on July 6 which said a hydrant
in their district was tapped to supply his ranch, which is
located in a nearby jurisdiction.
A legal settlement between Selleck and the Calleguas district,
which was formally approved on Wednesday by directors of the
agency, will prevent Selleck from drawing water from the
district for use on his ranch in the Hidden Valley area
northwest of Los Angeles.
Selleck, who is most famous for playing a Hawaii private
investigator in 1980s television show "Magnum, P.I.," has agreed
to pay the district's nearly $22,000 bill to hire a private
investigator, officials said.
The district said that several times from 2013 to 2015 a
water-tender truck filled from a hydrant within the Calleguas
district and delivered that water to Selleck's ranch.
The dispute came to light as California endures a devastating
four-year drought that has led to mandatory water cutbacks on
cities and towns.
"Mr. Selleck previously paid for all the water that he utilized,
which the Calleguas Municipal Water District acknowledged had
not been stolen," said Selleck's attorney, Marty Singer, in a
statement.
The metered hydrant was in Thousand Oaks, which is part of the
Calleguas water district and was installed for use at a
construction site, said the city's public works director, Jay
Spurgin.
A construction company paid for the water, but city officials do
not know whether some was diverted out of the district, Spurgin
said.
It was unclear if Selleck might have paid the construction
company for use of the water, but Calleguas water district
general manager Susan Mulligan said in a statement that was
irrelevant.
"No one has a legal right to district water by simply paying a
rate to another water user based on the volume of water
questionably obtained," Mulligan said.
Eric Bergh, manager of resources for the Calleguas water
district, said in an email that Selleck could not have fully
paid for the water because, since he is not a resident of the
district, he avoided tax assessments and fees.
Selleck now stars on the CBS police drama "Blue Bloods."
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Daniel Wallis and
Sandra Maler)
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