Actor Tom Selleck has tentatively settled a Southern California court complaint that accused him of illegally tapping the public hydrant of a nearby water district to supply his ranch in the midst of a crippling drought.
Lawyers for Mr Selleck and the Calleguas Municipal Water District in Ventura County, north of Los Angeles, reached an agreement that must now go to the agency's board for approval at a meeting set for next Wednesday, said Eric Bergh, the agency's resources manager.
Mr Bergh confirmed the deal was struck yesterday, but said terms were confidential until it was finalised.
"Staff believes the tentative settlement is a positive step towards an ultimate resolution of this matter," Mr Bergh said.
Neither Mr Selleck nor his representatives were immediately available for comment.
The 70-year-old actor first gained fame playing a private detective in Hawaii on the 1980s television series 'Magnum, P.I.'
He now stars in police drama 'Blue Bloods.'
The Calleguas district filed a complaint last Monday in Ventura County Superior Court accusing the actor of illegally exporting the district's water out of its service area.
The complaint said the water district spent nearly $22,000 (€19,700) to hire a private investigator and discovered that several times from 2013 into 2015 a water-tender truck filled its tanks from a public hydrant in the community of Thousand Oaks and delivered that water to Selleck's nearby ranch.
The complaint comes as California copes with a devastating four-year drought that has damaged the state's multi billion-dollar agriculture industry and led to mandatory water cutbacks on cities and towns averaging 25% of their usual supplies.
In November 2013, the water district sent a cease-and-desist order to Selleck, warning it would take legal action against the actor unless the alleged illegal water deliveries to his property were halted.
