Thursday Top of the Scroll: California warns water agencies over shutoffs amid higher prices, missed payments
The California Department of Justice on Wednesday issued a “legal alert” intended to help protect people from water shutoffs as the state continues to struggle with drought, rising prices and the lingering economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. State Attorney General Rob Bonta said he issued the alert partly as a response to an estimated 40% increase in the price of certain types of water transactions so far this year and the fact that roughly 1.6 million Californians have fallen behind on their payments as of January 2021. … The alert was sent to drinking water systems to remind them of the protections codified in the state’s Water Shutoff Protection Act.
Related articles:
- San Francisco Chronicle: Rising cost of water threatens to leave some Californians dry due to unpaid-bill shutoffs
- San Diego Union-Tribune: Federal cash arrives for San Diegans drowning in water bills as shutoffs resume
- Redheaded Blackbelt: Broke, busted, and beaten: customers of the WCSD demand answers in heated meeting