Typically, water utilities’ budgets are funded by revenue
collected through water and sewer rates. Revenue generated by
rates covers the costs of operations, as well as ongoing upgrades
and repairs to pipelines, treatment plants, sewers and other
water infrastructure.
State legislation also has affected the water rate-setting
process by requiring new processes for altering water rates, as
well as by requiring water conservation, which in turn decreases
the demand for water.
Here’s another piece of good news for Pasadena Water and Power
(PWP) customers who may be falling behind on their water and
electric bill payments due to COVID-19: PWP is seeking a
resolution from the City Council to participate in two new
utility assistance programs specifically aimed at customers who
have been delinquent with their bills.
If you haven’t read MacKenzie Elmer’s piece about steep water
rate increases projected by the San Diego County Water
Authority, we recommend you correct that. You can click here
and it will take you there but don’t forget to come back. We
also explained it thoroughly on the podcast. In the piece,
Elmer took us through how because we’re using less water we
will have to pay more.
A challenge to new or increased California water or sewer rates
must be brought within 120 days pursuant to Senate
Bill 323, which was signed into law this week. SB 323
applies to rates for both retail and wholesale water and sewer
fees adopted or increased after January 1, 2022. How will this
impact local agencies across the state?
If there’s anything to take away from MacKenzie Elmer’s latest
story on the cost of water in drought-stricken Southern
California, it’s that it isn’t getting cheaper any time
soon. The San Diego County Water Authority, which
controls most of the region’s water resources from the
drought-stressed Colorado River, is forecasting hefty price
hikes as high as 10 percent beginning 2023. That’s partly
because the agency has a lot of debt to pay off. It doesn’t
want to take out more loans, so it’d like to raise cash over
the next decade instead — and that cash comes from ratepayers.
Sacramento County Regional Sanitation District (Regional San)
and Sacramento Area Sewer District (SASD) serve a 400-square
mile service area, providing public infrastructure and
municipal services to protect and enrich the daily lives of
more than 1.6 million Sacramento County residents. Over his
career, Prabhakar Somavarapu, former general manager of both
districts, oversaw one of the largest infrastructure projects
in Sacramento’s history, the $2 billion EchoWater Project…
The rebate for Livermore Municipal Water customers who install
drought-resistant landscaping has increased. Owners of
single-family homes are eligible to receive up to $2,000 for
the conversion, according to the city. Owners of multi-family
and commercial properties are eligible to get up to $6,000
back. The rebate will cover up to 50 percent of the cost.
Residents and businesses in Poway soon could be paying more on
their water bills. Poway City Council on Tuesday
unanimously voted to set a public hearing on a proposed
four-year rate increase for water, recycled water and
wastewater rates. It comes as the city grapples with how to
deal with the future of water for its residents, challenged by
rising costs to import water and the need to pay into capital
improvement projects.
Right now, Congress is debating needed investments in our water
system decades in the making. While the Senate’s compromise
bill passed earlier this month includes billions for lead pipe
replacement and helping communities prepare for future drought
and floods, the bill falls short of ensuring all families can
turn their tap on and access safe, affordable water.
… Some utilities are stepping up to help (both San
Francisco Public Utilities and East Bay Municipal
Utilities District have customer assistance programs)
… -Written by Michael McAfee, president and CEO of
PolicyLink, a national research and action institute focused on
advancing racial and economic equity, and Susana De
Anda, co-founder and executive director of the Community
Water Center, a nonprofit environmental justice organization
based in California’s San Joaquin Valley.
The Marin Municipal Water District has decided against
switching from bimonthly to monthly billing cycles as a way to
promote water conservation. At a meeting on Thursday, the
district’s board decided the nearly $1.2 million in added costs
yearly that would result from the change would be better spent
on a larger effort to install wireless meters for all of its
customers. … The idea to switch to monthly billing is not
new, having been proposed and rejected in 2017 because of the
costs.
After twenty years at or above the current level, the San
Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District Board of Directors
voted to lower its property tax rate. Valley District, a
wholesale water provider and State Water Contractor, is
required to set a property tax rate each fiscal year for the
debt service fund on its State Water Contract.
A drought in California has led to a spike in the state’s water
prices, nearly doubling the value of futures contracts for the
essential commodity this year and creating opportunities in
water-related investments. As of Aug. 24, the Nasdaq Veles
California Water Index, which represents the weighted average
price of water-rights transactions across five major markets in
California and is published weekly, has climbed by roughly 87%
year to date to $923.54 per one-acre foot.
Bluefield Research has recently published its latest annual
benchmark study of residential water races across U.S. cities.
The new analysis shows water rate growth currently outpacing
other household utility services (e.g., power, gas) at an
average of 4.2 percent per year. As such, the combined water &
wastewater bill for a typical U.S. household has swelled to
43.2 percent from 2012 to 2021, an indicator of the water
sector’s growing financial burden.
As if California’s drought situation could get no worse, water
agencies and poor communities in the southern San Joaquin
Valley are confronting a new reality. While they receive no
water from the State Water Project, they’re being hit with rate
hikes of up to 18 percent from last year by California water
officials. In a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom, state water users
in the old Tulare Lake bed – including water agencies
that serve some of the state’s poorest communities – called for
the Department of Water Resources to halt its planned hike on
water rates.
Benicia residents could see their water and wastewater bills
increase following a recommendation by city staff. City council
would have to ultimately approve it. On Aug. 11, 2021, staff at
the City of Benicia publicly released their recommendations on
the revised draft water and wastewater utility rate study. Of
the four possible funding scenarios for each utility, staff is
recommending city council select Water Scenario 3 and
Wastewater Scenario 3 and is further recommending that Council
consider a public hearing date in November.
Water and wastewater bills could be going up as soon as next
year. While water rates have increased in the past few years,
it’s been longer since wastewater rates changed. … Drinking
water rates did increase about two years ago, and under this
proposal, they will likely be going up another 3%. The biggest
change will be for wastewater charges.
We’d like to set the record straight in response to the recent
guest commentary in the Village News titled: “San Diego County
must not suffer if Fallbrook and Rainbow leave Water Authority”
by San Diego County Water Authority board members Mel Katz and
Keith Lewinger. First, it is the ratepayers of Fallbrook and
Rainbow who have been suffering – over the past 10 years, they
have overpaid nearly $50 million to the Water Authority
compared to the benefits they’ve received. -Written by Jennifer DeMeo, board president of
the Fallbrook Public Utility District, and Hayden
Hamilton, board president of the Rainbow Municipal Water
District.
Even after the pandemic subsides, the San Lorenzo Valley Water
District (SLVWD) will not turn off customer’s water supply for
nonpayment. SLVWD Manager Rick Rogers in an interview said the
board has “a strong position that we should not be turning
people’s water off for nonpayment. It’s a fundamental right,
but we also have to pay our bills.” SLVWD, Rogers said, will no
longer issue a 48-hour tag for nonpayment. Instead, the
district will, once a year, move any outstanding bills onto
residents’ property tax bills.
Helix Water District, which provides water for much of East
County, will reinstate late fees starting in August and renew
water shutoffs on Oct. 1. The utility’s governing board voted
4-1 on Wednesday to support staff’s decision to bring back late
fees and shutoffs for nonpayment. Customers suffering financial
hardship had been given a grace period during the pandemic. The
district currently has 546 accounts in arrears for a total of
more than $470,000. Helix officials say that 475 of those
accounts are residential.
A class action lawsuit was filed against San Diego and its
public utilities department on Wednesday, alleging that
residential and commercial customers were overcharged in fees
to make up for shortfalls from industrial wastewater
dischargers.
The Padre Dam Municipal Water District Board of Directors,
which last week reinstated late fees and water shutoffs, plans
to put tax liens on 73 delinquent accounts. The item is on the
consent calendar of the board’s meeting on Wednesday. The
district, which had given customers a grace period during the
pandemic, said it is owed more than $280,000. … One
[agricultural] customer owes $190,858.
Jet Martin wanted to stop service to a water meter to save
money for the homeowners in his Mira Mesa HOA. It turns out the
city said doing that will cost thousands of dollars. …
Martin’s HOA consists of 15 homes. There used to be sprinklers
that watered a once-grassy area that sits between two houses.
It was a space where residents in the HOA could sit, eat, and
enjoy the outdoors. They stopped watering the grass a couple of
years ago, but still pay a base fee to the city of nearly $30
per month.
Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) went on record today
during Imperial Irrigation District’s (IID) Board of Directors
meeting to oppose IID’s proposed fee to be charged to IID’s
Coachella Valley rate payers. CVWD is IID’s largest
single power customer. IID and CVWD are party to the 1934
Compromise Agreement, and under that agreement, IID is
obligated to charge Coachella Valley rate payers (including
CVWD) the same rates as IID charges to rate payers within its
district in the Imperial Valley.
Imperial Irrigation District officials are making a last-ditch
effort to amend or kill proposed legislation that could
fundamentally transform the governing board of the agency,
Assembly Bill 1021. At the heart of the issue is how the bill
could force the district — which provides water and power to
virtually all of Imperial County, and electricity to part of
the Coachella Valley — to add a seat representing energy
ratepayers from a small section of southeastern Riverside
County to the IID Board of Directors.
The expected water cuts from the Colorado River as a result of
the Drought Contingency Plan (DCP) will likely mean higher
water utility rates, according to Fitch Ratings. The U.S.
Congress passed the DCP in 2019 to protect water levels in Lake
Powell and Lake Mead which provide water to Colorado River
basin states. Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New
Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, and Mexico entered into the DCP,
which mandates how water cuts will occur when the lakes drop to
certain levels, called tiers.
California is answering the call to keep the tap open to
millions of people who have fallen behind on their water bill
payments through a recent $1 billion investment from Gov. Gavin
Newsom. The timely assistance comes amid serious economic
fallout from the pandemic that caused record unemployment and
left 1.6 million households drowning in water debt. At the same
time, some small water systems are struggling to keep the water
flowing due to lost income from unpaid bills. The governor’s
plan addresses both problems, for now. But what happens next
year? -Written by Sen. Bill Dodd (Napa) and Sen. Lena
Gonzalez (Long Beach).
Nearly all of the Bay Area is under an exceptional
drought and some local water agencies are now imposing
restrictions in an effort to conserve. NBC Bay Area has
reached out to water agencies for information on how they plan
to move forward during the drought. Bookmark this page as we
will be updating it once we get more information. Visit
our drought page for more coverage.
In the weekly newsletter sent out by the City of Santa Barbara
on June 14, we are given a peek at how the water policy
followed by the city over the past decade has worked out. The
city provides us with a chart showing that consumers of water
in Santa Barbara pay substantially more for their water than do
Goleta, Carpinteria or Montecito at all but the very least
levels of consumption. Remarkably, huge estates in Montecito
irrigate their grounds at 68 percent of the cost of urban
homesteads in our city! -Written by Glen Mowrer, contributor to the Santa Barbara
Independent.
ACWA-sponsored SB 323 passed out of the Assembly Judiciary
Committee on Tuesday and is headed to the Assembly floor. SB
323, authored by Senator Anna Caballero (D–Salinas), would
provide financial stability for public agencies by creating a
120-day statute of limitations for challenges to new water and
sewer rates. This would provide public agency water and sewer
service rates the same protections already afforded to fees and
charges that fund other essential government services.
When Donald Trump referred to the COVID pandemic as a “plague,”
he was implying that it was an act of God that couldn’t be
blamed on the government. We are now told that the acute water
shortage in California is the result of a “drought” that has,
once again, lead to water restrictions. This biblical term
obscures the responsibility that our local governments bear for
this crisis. Countries facing far harsher climates and much
scarcer water supply, like Israel, have adopted straightforward
policies to avoid such crises. We should learn from their
example. -Written by Ron E. Hassner, the Helen Diller
Family chair in Israel Studies and the co-director of the Helen
Diller Institute for Israel Studies at U.C. Berkeley.
Legislation from Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, that would help
hundreds of thousands of Californians who have fallen behind on
their water bills and are at risk of being disconnected from
water service cleared a key committee on Wednesday.
… Sen. Dodd’s legislation comes as the State Water
Resources Control Board heard results of a survey that found
water debt in California climbed to about $1 billion. The
survey estimated 12% of California households are behind on
their water bills with an average debt of $500 per
household.
Higher bills will soon be on the way for the roughly 1.4
million people who get their water from the East Bay Municipal
Utility District, but at least for now they won’t be required
to cut their water use despite the drought. Beginning July 1,
the agency will charge customers 4% more for both water and
sewer services. And a year later, on July 1, 2022, the rate
will climb another 4%. The district’s board of directors
unanimously approved the rate increases at its meeting Tuesday
as part of the $2.25 billion budget it adopted for the next two
fiscal years.
A court of appeal invalidated a water district’s adopted rate
increases, concluding that the district failed to meet its
burden under Proposition 218 of establishing that the increases
did not exceed the cost of providing the water service. …
Following a hearing, the Board of Directors of the Florin
County Water District voted to increase its water rates by 50
percent. Data presented by staff at the hearing showed that
revenues would exceed expenditures in each of the four years
following the rate increase, culminating in a net profit of
almost $1.4 million in the fourth year.
The White House last week announced the official
launch of the Low-Income Household Water Assistance
Program (LIHWAP) housed at the U.S. Department of Health &
Human Services (HHS). This program is the first of its
kind designed to provide funding to help low-income households
affected by the COVID-19 pandemic pay their water and
wastewater bills. According to the National Association of
Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), the available federal funds,
which total $1.138 billion, were secured as part of
the federal COVID-19 relief spending in December 2020 and March
2021.
A water war is heating up in the North County. Rainbow
Municipal Water District and Fallbrook Public Utility District
want to leave the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA)
because of rising costs. They want to join the Eastern
Municipal Water District in Riverside County, a move that could
save their customers up to $5 million a year.
A proposal that would more than double the cost of sewer
service in the region over the next five years and has drawn
the rage of the area’s hospitality and business interests heads
to a board for final approval on June 7. The board of directors
for Monterey One Water, the regional wastewater management
service, will vote on the proposed schedule of rate increases.
If approved, ratepayers will see a 47-percent jump in their
sewage bills after July 1. By 2025, rates would be 122-percent
higher than they are today. … [T]he increase is needed to
maintain and update the utility’s $750 million infrastructure
assets, some of which are more than 30 years old.
The Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors adopted a
resolution Tuesday, June 1, to better serve IID’s
Coachella Valley energy customers and better protect Imperial
Valley’s water rights, according to a press release. The
Board’s resolution seeks to provide a local alternative to AB
1021 by Assemblyman Chad Mayes (I-Yucca Valley) that would
create a number of adverse consequences for the region, if
passed into law, including giving Coachella Valley energy
ratepayers a say over IID’s water rights and policy in Imperial
Valley.
The state Senate today approved legislation from Sen. Bill
Dodd, D-Napa, to help hundreds of thousands of Californians who
have fallen behind on their water bills and are at risk of
being disconnected from water service. … Sen. Dodd’s
legislation comes as the State Water Resources Control Board
heard results of a survey that found water debt in California
climbed to about $1 billion. The survey estimated 12% of
California households are behind on their water bills with an
average debt of $500 per household.
The California Urban Water Agencies (CUWA) today announces
Brown and Caldwell’s Wendy Broley will assume the role of
executive director effective July 1, replacing Cindy Paulson
after 10 years in the role. CUWA is a non-profit corporation of
11 major urban water agencies responsible for serving drinking
water to over two-thirds of California’s population.
Sen. Dodd’s legislation comes as the State Water Resources
Control Board heard results of a survey that found water debt
in California climbed to about $1 billion. The survey estimated
12% of California households are behind on their water bills
with an average debt of $500 per household. Many of those
people are on the brink of service disconnection. Senate Bill
222 would prevent shut-offs by establishing a water assistance
fund for low-income rate payers experiencing economic hardship.
At SCV Water, we are committed to responsible water stewardship
and providing service at a reasonable cost. As part of that
responsibility, we regularly consider our rates, the cost of
operations and the future health of the agency. As such,
SCV Water is considering new rates over the next five years to
ensure revenue keeps pace with rising expenses. That isn’t the
only reason the agency is considering changes, however. -Written by Matt Stone, general manager of SCV Water.
Rosamond Community Services District’s residential and
commercial customers will see their water and sewer rates
increase after the District’s governing Board approved rate
adjustments earlier this month as part of the District’s
efforts to remain fiscally solvent. The average district
residential customer will see a monthly water bill increase of
$6.11. This average represents about 70% of the District’s
residential customer base. The average commercial 1 customer
will see a monthly water bill increase of $20.90, while the
average commercial 2 customer will see an increase of $2.56.
The state’s extensive water system supplies cities and farms;
prevents pollution of lakes, rivers, and coastlines; protects
against floods; and supports freshwater ecosystems and the
forested headwaters that are a major source of water supply.
Many local, state, and federal agencies oversee this system and
raise revenues from a variety of sources. California spends
about $37 billion annually, with the lion’s share (84%) coming
from local water bills and taxes. The balance comes from state
(13%) and federal (3%) contributions.
Poplar is one of hundreds of small community water systems in
the central San Joaquin Valley facing severe challenges in the
task of providing residents with safe and reliable drinking
water, particularly during drought. Some 360,000 people are at
risk, according to a drought-risk analysis by DWR. Water
systems were caught off guard in the last drought, leaving tens
of thousands of people at risk of imminent water shortages.
The Crescent City Council is moving forward with a study on
water and sewer rates, which may result in increased rates for
residents. After receiving a grant from the California State
Water Resources Control Board totaling about $80,000, the city
is pressing on with the overdue rate studies. Typically, rate
studies for water and sewer are completed every five years,
however, the last water rate study came in 2013 and the last
update to wastewater came in 2015, said City Manager Eric Wier.
Wier said these projects are the first-step in maintaining the
overall health of both systems.
With the current drought already impacting over 90 million
people in the U.S. and with water scarcity likely to get worse
because of population growth and climate change, there is an
urgent need to invest in water efficiency. This threat goes
well beyond the arid west. Thirty-three states have been hit by
drought since 2000, including ones located in the Great Plains,
Midwest, Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. And scientists
warn that most of the country is on pace to experience water
shortages if we don’t manage water better. -Written by Ron Burke, president and CEO of the
Alliance for Water Efficiency, and Mary Ann
Dickinson, founding president and CEO of AWE.
As pandemic restrictions begin to ease in California, a race is
on to get money in place to help with massive and growing
household water debt before the statewide moratorium on
shutoffs for non-payment is lifted. Some observers are looking
at June 15, when Gov. Newsom said he’ll lift the state’s mask
mandate, as a potential date for release from other COVID-19
mandates, including the water shutoff moratorium. That’s also
the deadline for lawmakers to pass the state budget, in which
Newsom recently injected $1 billion to help pay overdue water
bills.
When lawyers for the Town of Apple Valley first presented their
arguments in a lawsuit for taking over the water system
owned by Liberty Utilities, they leveled a serious charge.
According to Kendall MacVey, an attorney with Best Best &
Krieger, the firm’s expert who had conducted a three-day
inspection of the system discovered nine out of 10 water
reservoir tanks to be “seismically unsafe.” Some were perched
above homes with no concrete foundation, MacVey said in an
October 2019 court hearing.
As California enters another dry summer, the supply and use of
water are once again becoming topics of immediate concern.
Statewide, agriculture dominates use of developed water —
meaning water which is moved through pipes at some point.
In urban areas, about half of developed water is used outdoors,
and of that fraction about half is used for landscape
irrigation. That half is an important fraction in Los Angeles
and other urban areas. Across the state, homeowners may be
interested in saving money on water bills, improving plant
health, limiting weeds, and being ecologically responsible
while still having an attractive, low-maintenance landscape.
A San Bernardino Superior Court judge has made a ruling against
the Town of Apple Valley in its attempt to take over its
largest supplier of water. In a tentative decision issued
Friday, Judge Donald Alvarez found that Liberty Utilities had
“disproved” the town’s arguments that its acquisition of the
company’s water system would be in the public’s interest and a
necessity. … The town filed its eminent domain lawsuit
in January 2016 when the system was owned by Ranchos Water
Company in response to what they said was a public outcry over
rising water rates.
Governor Gavin Newsom announced an expansion of the drought
emergency to 41 of the state’s 58 counties, dedicating $5.1
billion to boost water infrastructure and an additional $1
billion to paying off nearly the entirety of Californian
household water debt. Yet, while the governor’s plan includes
$150 million for groundwater cleanup and water recycling
measures, it does nothing to speed up the process to bring
overdrafted water basins into full and sustainable operation.
The deadline is currently 2040 for critically overdrafted
basins and 2042 for remaining high and medium priority basins.
Customers of the East Bay Muncipal Utility District may have to
dig deeper into their pockets to keep the taps and faucets
flowing as the utility proposes increasing rates. The utility
is seeking to raise water and wastewater rates each by 4% in
the fiscal year starting July I, and an additional 4% starting
July 1, 2022. The potential move comes as EBMUD reviews
and adjusts its budget, which happens every two years. General
Manager Clifford Chan will present a proposed budget for
utility for the next two years to the EBMUD board of directors
on Tuesday.
A water district locked in a long-running legal battle over
residential rates with the city of Ventura recently agreed
to pay $1 million, but the fight does not appear to
be over. City Attorney Gregory Diaz said Friday he
expected the United Water Conservation District to
exercise its option to appeal. Ventura has filed lawsuits every
year against the water district since the agency implemented
increased charges in 2011-12. This settlement is for fiscal
year 2019-20. The district charged residential customers
three times more than agricultural customers for groundwater,
and the city challenged its methodology.
Kern County ag producers are making changes big and small —
from redeveloping entire orchards to fine-tuning their
irrigation systems — as they try to adjust to worsening
drought conditions across the Central Valley. Strategies vary
depending on access to water and ability to shift irrigation to
different fields. Some landowners are trying to hold onto as
much water as they can in case prices rise later in the year.
Water customers with the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency
can expect rate increases to kick in over the next five years,
after board members voted in late April to approve the fees.
The PVWMA serves coastal growers and farmers in south Santa
Cruz and north Monterey counties through 21 miles of water
pipelines running near Highway 1. The water, which is a blend
of recycled water, groundwater and Harkins Slough Recovery well
water, supplements farmer’s on-site agricultural wells.
California Senators have unveiled a $3.4 billion drought relief
package to address the hardships created by ongoing dry
conditions. The Senate Budget Plan on Drought, Safe Drinking
Water, Water Supply Reliability, and Ratepayer Assistance would
be the single largest investment to address drought challenges
in California. During the Senate Budget & Fiscal Review
Subcommittee 2 on Resources, Environmental Protection and
Energy hearing, the proposal was passed by a 4-0 vote. The
proposal offers a comprehensive approach to drought relief,
with funding designated for water supply projects, research,
and water-use efficiency projects.
Increasingly ominous signs suggest that we are entering another
multiyear drought in California. The State Water Project
recently reduced projected water deliveries for 2021 from 10
percent of requested supplies to 5 percent, and on April 21,
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a regional drought emergency in the
Russian River watershed in Northern California. But it’s a
different story in San Diego County.
-Written by Gary Croucher, chair of the San Diego County
Water Authority’s Board of Directors.
As California slowly emerges from the depths of the COVID-19
pandemic, one remnant left behind by the statewide lockdown
offers a sobering reminder of the economic challenges still
ahead for millions of the state’s residents and the water
agencies that serve them – a mountain of water debt. Water
affordability concerns, long an issue in a state where millions
of people struggle to make ends meet, jumped into overdrive
last year as the pandemic wrenched the economy.
It’s been a week since Mayor London Breed tapped City Attorney
Dennis Herrera to lead the Public Utilities Commission, a
massive, billion-dollar entity providing San Franciscans — and,
in fact, millions of nearby locals — with water and/or
power. It’s been a week, and nobody seems to be saying it,
so we’ll say it: This is weird. It would be weird if the
mayor transferred a hypothetical general manager of the Public
Utilities Commission — with a background touching on
engineering and water and wastewater and sewage treatment and
hydroelectric power generation and distribution — into leading
the City Attorney’s office. The reverse is weird, too.
As California slowly emerges from
the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, one remnant left behind by
the statewide lockdown offers a sobering reminder of the economic
challenges still ahead for millions of the state’s residents and
the water agencies that serve them – a mountain of water debt.
Water affordability concerns, long an issue in a state where
millions of people struggle to make ends meet, jumped into
overdrive last year as the pandemic wrenched the economy. Jobs
were lost and household finances were upended. Even with federal
stimulus aid and unemployment checks, bills fell by the wayside.
Legislation from Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, to help ensure
low-income and pandemic-strapped Californians struggling to
make water bill payments do not lose access to water service
cleared a key committee hurdle today. … Sen. Dodd has
proposed two bills to ensure access and affordability. Senate
Bill 222 establishes a water assistance fund for low-income
rate payers experiencing economic hardship. And SB 223 expands
protections and protocols for customers who are faced with
having their water shutoff because of an inability to pay their
bills. They were approved today by the Senate Environmental
Quality committee with overwhelming support.
Casitas Municipal Water District has set a May 3 deadline
to apply for a vacant seat on its board. Former board member
Angelo Spandrio resigned last month. Now, the rest of the board
members plan to appoint someone to fill the seat for the
remainder of his four-year term, set to expire in December
2022. Spandrio, of Ojai, announced his decision at a March
10 board meeting, saying he and his wife plan to move to
Arizona.
The San Diego County Water Authority was successful in its rate
lawsuit against the Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California, and the SDCWA provided a check to the Rainbow
Municipal Water District for Rainbow’s share of the settlement.
On March 23, the Rainbow board voted 5-0 to place the money
into the district’s reserves rather than to attempt to provide
refunds to each individual ratepayer.
The Alameda County Water District board has promoted Ed
Stevenson to serve as the district’s new general manager. The
district, which provides water to roughly 350,000 homes in
Fremont, Newark and Union City, announced that Stevenson,
a 24-year district employee, will take over after current
general manager Robert Shaver retires on July 1 following 30
years of service.
Residents across San Jose can expect to see their water bills
increase in the coming months no matter what company they get
their water from — a trend that could continue year after year
for the next decade. Santa Clara Valley Water District,
the region’s wholesale water provider, plans to raise its rates
by up to 9.6% each year for the next eight years, followed by
an 8.7% jump the following two years. The monthly rate
increases would equate to an approximate $4.50 to $5.10
increase per month for customers, according to the water
district.
Water is one of the world’s most vital resources. So is there
reason to freak out now that profit-hungry hedge funds and
other investors can trade it like a barrel of oil or shares of
Apple? That’s exactly what CME Group recently did in California
when it launched the world’s first futures market for water in
December 2020. Put simply, a futures market lets people place
bets on the future price of water.
-Written by Ellen Bruno, of University of
California, Berkeley and Heidi Schweizer, of North
Carolina State University.
With California in the throes of a second year of drought
conditions, the mega-water agency of Southern California served
notice Tuesday that it’s prepared to spend up to $44 million to
buy water from Northern California to shore up its supplies.
The board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California, which serves 19 million urban residents, authorized
its staff to begin negotiating deals with water agencies north
of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, where supplies are
generally more plentiful.
Californians received a double dose of not so happy water news
last month; cutbacks were made to water allocations and a key
water price index surged higher. … The state’s Department of
Water Resources has wasted no time in sounding alarm bells;
officials have already announced 50 percent cutbacks from
December 2020’s projected water allotments to State Water
Project allocations for the 2021 water year. California
residents were warned “to plan for the impacts of limited water
supplies this summer for agriculture as well as urban and rural
water users.”
The theme of the April 14 meeting of the Cloverdale City
Council is seemingly water — the council will be viewing a
presentation on its updated water and sewer rate study and
giving direction on whether or not to proceed to a public
hearing with new rates, and will also be discussing whether or
not it wants to join the Sonoma-Marin Saving Water
Partnership.
Despite market unknowns created by the pandemic and lower
commodity prices, California agricultural land values remained
largely stable, an indication buyers have confidence in the
long-term land market in the state: This was a key takeaway
from a virtual business conference held by the California
Chapter of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural
Appraisers. The conference also discussed impacts of the
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act on California land
values. Even though record supplies of the state’s
highest-value crops led to lower prices for farmers last year,
appraisers said the softer prices also helped move those
products.
ACWA-sponsored SB 323 (Caballero) passed out of the Senate
Government and Finance Committee on March 25, following a
hearing in which ACWA staff and members testified in
support….The bill would improve financial stability for
public agencies by creating a 120-day statute of limitations
for legal challenges to water and sewer service rates. It comes
as water and wastewater agencies have faced increased
litigation from ratepayers over whether agency rates comply
with Proposition 218 and other existing laws.
Two East County water agencies plan to reduce future water
rates by using millions of dollars they received from the
County Water Authority as part of a legal settlement. The Water
Authority announced a plan Feb. 25 to distribute $44.4 million
to its 24-member agencies — including the Helix Water District
and Padre Dam Municipal Water District — after receiving a
check for that amount from the Metropolitan Water District of
Southern California. A San Francisco Superior Court ruled in
favor of the Water Authority in January in two lawsuits against
Metro challenging rates and charges. The money is for legal
damages and interest from the decade-long rate cases.
ACWA and its member agencies care greatly about water
affordability and recognize the centrality of this issue during
these uniquely challenging times. ACWA is advocating in
Washington, D.C. (already with some success) and in Sacramento
for federal and state funding to help public water systems and
treatment works cover customer arrearages accrued during the
pandemic. This funding is needed quickly — through immediate
action — as opposed to through the legislative process for
long-term policy bills.
A proposal to create a watchdog for South Los Angeles County’s
dozens of disjointed and struggling water systems has stirred
fear among public agencies and companies further down the
pipeline that they could be the target of hostile
takeovers. AB 1195, introduced by Assemblywoman Christina
Garcia, would establish the Southern Los Angeles County
Regional Water Agency and grant it authority to assist failing
water systems with aging infrastructure, or to take control if
a system is no longer able to provide affordable, clean
drinking water.
President Biden signed into law a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief
package, the American Rescue Plan of 2021, aimed to provide
financial relief to Americans and incentives to stimulate the
economy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest
package … provides $500 million for low-income water and
wastewater grants. Funds will be allotted to states and tribes
based on percentage of households with income less than 150
percent of the federal poverty line.
For many Californians, water bills are piling up at
unprecedented rates during the pandemic, exacerbating water
affordability issues that disproportionately impact low-income
residents and communities of color. A recent
survey by the California State Water Resources Board,
which was supported by research from the UCLA Luskin
Center for Innovation, shows the extent of water bill debt
accumulation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Households owe a
combined $1 billion in unpaid bills, which has increased
substantially since the pandemic. The report finds that roughly
12% of Californians have overdue payments on their water
bills.
Driven by maintenance costs and supply price increases, higher
water bills could be coming to San Jose residents as soon as
July—despite pandemic-related hardships and resident pushback.
… Santa Clara Valley Water District, the wholesale water
provider in the county, could raise rates by 9.6%, which
translates to about a $4.50 increase per month to customers.
The company’s directors will vote on the proposed increases in
May and rate hikes would take effect July 1.
California Water Service’s King City District donated more than
$37,000 to local community organizations in 2020 as part of its
ongoing commitment to improving the quality of life in the
communities it serves. … In addition, to help alleviate some
of the financial strain for customers who lost their jobs or
were otherwise hard-hit financially by the coronavirus
pandemic, the company forgave a portion of past-due water bill
balances for those who fell behind because of the
pandemic.
State residents have been struggling to keep up with their
water bills during the COVID-19 pandemic, but government
officials say help is on the way. Survey results from the State
Water Resources Control Board released in late January estimate
about 1.6 million or 12% of households across the state have
not paid their water bills resulting in an estimated $1 billion
in statewide household water debt. The average household debt
is $500.
In times of drought, California’s Central Valley is full of
farmers hindered by the lack of water. And this region, where
the bulk of the nation’s fruits and vegetables are cultivated,
is driving up the demand for water. Although many farmers
without easy access to water often buy and pump it in from
their neighbors, droughts often fuel massive price increases.
And this often makes water so cost-prohibitive that it can
discourage farmers from even planting crops. This predicament
led a firm to recently list water as the newest commodity on
the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Now, water futures are traded
daily. This helps farmers lock in a price for water, so they
have a cushion if a drought threatens their crop revenues.
The San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors in
February 2021 announced a plan to distribute a rebate of $44.4
million to its 24 member agencies across the region after
receiving a check for that amount from the Los Angeles-based
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to pay legal
damages and interest, according to a SDCWA press release.
Addressing the San Diego region’s limited local water supplies
with innovative ideas is something the San Diego County Water
Authority has become known for. Using expertise gained from
decades of successful planning and projects, the Water
Authority is developing strategies to reduce the future cost of
water that sustains the economy and quality of life across the
county.
The Helix Water District Board of Directors last week
unanimously approved funding for the district’s first financial
customer assistance program, which will help East County
residents who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The
“Helix Helps Customer Assistance Program” will roll out in
April and will offer a one-time credit of up to $300 for
eligible single-family residential customers who are behind on
their bills.
The San Diego Water Authority thinks the region is going to
need way more water over the next few decades, but the smaller
agencies that buy water from them aren’t so sure. They think
the Water Authority is projecting too much growth in future
water demand, and they’re worried that if they’re right,
residents are going to end up paying for it, even as they
curtail their own water usage.
The Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District recently
ruled in Wyatt v. City of Sacramento that a City’s imposition
of a surcharge in the form of a “general tax” on
property-related utility services payable to the City’s general
fund did not violate Proposition 218 (Prop. 218). The
appellate court decision confirms that a surcharge imposed on a
utility enterprise is a cost of providing utility services and
is therefore properly part of the Prop. 218 analysis of
determining whether revenues exceed funds required to provide
the services.
A new report finds that nearly 70,000 San Diego families are
behind on their water bills during the pandemic, with more than
11,000 owing over a thousand dollars. That same study by
the state’s Water Resources Control Board finds that one in
eight California households are behind on their water bills: a
a tsunami of debt adding up to more than a billion dollars.
Unpaid water bills are piling up during the pandemic, as small
water providers in the central San Joaquin Valley teeter toward
a financial crisis that could affect drinking water quality and
affordability. More than 76,000 customers in Madera, Fresno,
Tulare and Kings counties are behind on their water bills for a
total debt of more than $15 million — according to the results
of a state survey of just a fraction of community water
systems. In reality, the collective debt is much larger. Small
community water systems, many already on shaky financial
footing, may need a bailout to keep safe and drinkable water
running at a price affordable to customers.
Disadvantaged communities concentrated in southern Los
Angeles County lack fair options when it comes to water supply.
When served by public utilities, aging infrastructure, water
quality problems, and other complications can translate into
sacrifices in quality or reliability. When supplied by
investor-owned utilities, they receive reliable water supply
but pay more than affluent communities. This report examines
the case study of Sativa County Water District, a cautionary
tale of a failed water system in southern LA County.
To meet the promise of its day one executive order on Racial
Equity and Support for Underserved Communities, the Biden
administration needs to provide low-income communities,
communities of color and Indigenous people the same access to
clean and safe water that the rest of our nation takes for
granted. -Written by David F. Coursen, a former EPA attorney and a
member of the Environmental Protection Network, a nonprofit
organization of EPA alumni.
Mayors and county supervisors in towns along the Colorado River
were already upset five months ago when the state water
agency endorsed an investment company’s plan to take water
from farmland near the river and sell it to a growing Phoenix
suburb. Now, they’re incensed that the agency, which initially
suggested holding back a large portion of the
water, changed its stance and will let the company
sell most of the water to the town of Queen Creek. Elected
leaders in communities along the river say they intend to
continue trying to stop the proposed deal, which would need to
be approved by the federal Bureau of Reclamation.
More than 69,600 people in San Diego County are behind on their
water bill right now, according to a report published last week
by the California State Water Resources Control Board. The
agency surveyed all of California’s water utilities in November
to get a clearer picture of the financial hardship utilities
have on residents at a time when more people are jobless and
quarantining at home. Statewide, one in eight Californians has
water debt, and the unpaid bill total has swelled to $1
billion, according to a CalMatters analysis of the data.
A new representative for the vacant Dublin San Ramon Services
District Board Division 5 will be appointed at the Tuesday,
Feb. 2 board meeting. Two members of the public applied for the
position, which represents Dublin residents east of Hacienda
Drive. Any applicants must live within the boundaries of the
district and the board short-listed five candidates. Four
finalists from that pool will be interviewed during the
meeting, which is set to begin at 6 p.m.
Former U.S. Rep. Sam Farr is calling for the Marina Coast Water
District to be investigated for fiscal mismanagement and merge
with the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District, even as
the district is involved in a lawsuit that has successfully
challenged its water rates and could have implications for the
entire Ord Community.
In a time of record-breaking unemployment as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic, Californians owe an estimated $1 billion in
unpaid water utility bills. With reduced revenue, hundreds of
water utilities are at high risk of financial emergency. The
State Water Board estimates at least 1.6 million households
have an average of roughly $500 in water debt — a crisis that
could lead to a wave of families facing water shutoffs, liens
on their homes or other collection methods. … Data show
Black and Latino households are disproportionately
affected.
Last year was one for the record books, with the pandemic, a
statewide wildfire emergency, ongoing drought, and a lingering
recession roiling California’s water landscape. These crises
have exacerbated longstanding inequities in access to water
services, and made it that much harder to accomplish important
work to improve the resilience of the state’s water system and
vulnerable ecosystems. Yet despite all the setbacks, the
essential work of providing drinking water and wastewater
services proceeded without a hitch—to which we all owe water
workers a debt of gratitude.
As COVID started to spread, farmers and large cities in
Southern California were hit with another blindside last March.
Fires, drought, and the planting season drove up the price of
California’s water market, over 220 percent in just three
months. Crops failed and pastures were lost. In September, CME
Group Inc vowed to create a new market to help with the
risk of these price swings. Last month, the first contract
connected to the future price of California’s $1.1 billion
water market was inked. -Written by Will Rinehart, a senior research fellow at the
Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State
University.
Today, the Bureau of Reclamation announces the finalization of
the Municipal and Industrial Water Rate-setting Policy for
Central Valley Project water contractors. This accomplishment
provides agreement between CVP contractors, Reclamation, and
the Department of the Interior regarding the recovery of the
CVP cost for M&I water users.
Now that the calendar has flipped to January 2021, it’s time to
say goodbye to the mess of the past year, yes? … The
pandemic’s economic dislocation continues to reverberate among
those who lost work. Severe weather boosted by a warming
climate is leaving its mark in the watersheds of the Southwest
[including the Colorado River]. And President-elect Biden will
take office looking to undo much of his predecessor’s legacy of
environmental deregulation while also writing his own narrative
on issues of climate, infrastructure, and social
justice….Litigation over toxic PFAS compounds found in
rivers, lakes, and groundwater is already active. Lawsuits are
likely to continue at a brisk pace…
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge Thursday struck down a
regional water district’s $2 annual fee on every household that
was paid by more than 40 water utilities in the southeast area
of Los Angeles County, including areas that don’t buy its
water.
The California Public Utilities Commission authorized Cal
Water to invest $828 million in its districts through 2021 in
order to continue providing safe, reliable water service to its
customers throughout California. This includes $148 million of
water system infrastructure upgrades that would be recovered
via the CPUC’s advice letter procedure after those projects are
completed.
In a 5-2 vote, the Zone 7 Water Agency Board approved the
expenditure of $2.8 million as the agency’s share for the next
phase of planning on the Delta Conveyance.
Things got a little wild at the San Diego County Water
Authority meeting last week when its 36 directors argued over
whether they should spend more money studying a controversial
$5 billion pipeline to the Colorado River. Outrage after
leaders apparently skipped over female directors waiting to add
comments during a discussion period sparked some to change
their vote on the matter.
Marin County flood planners are turning to Santa Venetia voters
to help pay for an estimated $6 million project to upgrade the
timber-reinforced berm that protects hundreds of homes from
overtopping tides.
In a letter to President-elect Joe Biden last week, the
American Water Works Association urged the incoming
administration to prioritize COVID-19 relief for water
utilities and investment for the overall water infrastructure
sector.
Residents in the San Diego County Water Authority’s service
area can apply to get a rebate of $3 for every square-foot of
lawn they replace with drought-tolerant plants.
Property owners in the Sonoma Valley generally receive property
tax bills in early October, which includes a lengthy list of
percentages levied for various bonds, and direct charges for
district fees such as fire, health care and the Sonoma Valley
County Sanitation District. But for the third time in seven
years, said Sonoma resident Scott Pace, that sanitation
district charge has been inaccurate.
Opposition is building against San Diego’s dream of erecting a
$5 billion pipeline to the Colorado River in the name of
resource independence. The pipe, which wouldn’t produce savings
for ratepayers until at least 2063, faces its next trial on
Thursday, when water managers meet to vote on spending another
$1.7 million to do the next planning step.
The Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District recently
ruled that a plaintiff challenging the method that a special
district uses to calculate rates in a judicial action need not
first present her evidence at the Proposition 218 public
hearing regarding an increase in the rates.
This Wednesday, Nov. 11, the Cloverdale City Council’s lone new
agenda item is a costly one to Cloverdale residents — a
proposed hike in the city’s water and sewage rates. The
increases in both water and wastewater rates … is something
that city officials say is needed to help start capital
improvement projects related to the city’s water and wastewater
systems.
California regulators sent a survey on Monday to 150 of the
state’s largest water providers in an attempt to shed light on
the financial fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. The State
Water Resources Control Board wants to know how economic
slowdowns related to the virus have affected utility finances
and, at a household level, how many residents have overdue
water bills.
A declaration suit filed in Superior Court in Sacramento by
attorneys for some of the leading environmental groups in
America accuses the California Department of Water Resources of
trying to prevent anyone in California from filing a court
action challenging … the financing of a single tunnel that
would be built under the Delta for 35 miles.
At Metropolitan’s Bay-Delta Committee, staff continued
preparing committee members for the upcoming decision on
funding the planning costs for the Delta Conveyance Project
which is anticipated to be before the full board in December.
ACWA and a coalition of local government associations filed
an amicus curiae letter on Tuesday with the
California Supreme Court requesting depublication of a recent
state appellate court opinion addressing the responsibilities
of a plaintiff prior to challenging the rates of a utility in
court.
On Friday, the state appellate court denied the petition by
Aaron Starr, who successfully led a repeal of wastewater rates
at the ballot box but the city is challenging it in court. The
appeals court ruled the rate repeal known as Measure M did not
provide sufficient funds for the city to operate its wastewater
treatment plant… On Sunday, Starr indicated he will now
petition the California State Supreme Court..
After months of meetings and thoughtful review, the West Valley
Water District Board of Directors today adopted 10 major
reforms crafted with staff and vetted by department managers
that will deliver increased transparency, accountability and
savings for ratepayers.
In a critical step for the proposed public takeover of
California American Water’s Monterey-area water system, the
Monterey Peninsula Water Management District’s board of
directors on Thursday night certified the final environmental
impact report for the effort.
After nearly 30 years the Joshua Basin Water District will soon
close out its payment agreement with the Mojave Water Agency
for the Morongo Basin Pipeline. … The Morongo Basin Pipeline
is a 71-mile underground pipeline built by the Mojave Water
Agency that brings water from the California aqueduct in
Hesperia to the Mojave River in south Apple Valley…
Catalina Island’s water utility wants to significantly increase
the rate it charges water users. This won’t happen immediately.
The process is long and technical. Visitors to Catalina may not
know it, but Southern California Edison provides water services
to the island.
The Montecito Water District is buying into Santa Barbara’s
desalination plant, which converts salt water into fresh water.
The deal calls for Montecito to pick up $33 million dollars of
the recently rebuilt plant’s $72 million dollar price tag, as
well as to share in operational costs.
Chris Palmer of the California Special Districts Association
said districts anticipate a $1.26 billion COVID-19 hit through
the end of the 2020-21 fiscal year. … Several special
districts told the Southern California News Group they haven’t
suffered revenue losses — yet — though they have incurred costs
from providing protective equipment to workers. A survey by
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California … found
the same, though rate increases have been reduced or postponed
in many places.
The report analyzes the environmental effects of Monterey
Peninsula Water Management District’s proposed buyout and
operation of the 40,000-customer Cal Am-owned system within the
district boundaries, including the proposed
6.4-million-gallon-per-day desalination plant and
infrastructure
A statewide water shutoff moratorium has kept the tap on for
Californians who haven’t been able to pay their water bill in
the midst of the pandemic-driven economic crisis. But ratepayer
debt has been accruing for months now, leading to revenue
losses for water providers across the state.
To protect public health, Reps. Harley Rouda of California and
Rashida Tlaib of Michigan want the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention to use its authority under the Public Health
Service Act to prohibit water utilities from shutting off
service to customers who are behind on their
bills… Water industry groups point to several reasons
why a national moratorium would be problematic.
The way Beverly Fickes sees it, there’s more at stake than just
a vote to increase water rates Monday in Happy Valley. She
believes the result of that vote could change the very nature
of the semi-rural area southwest of Redding.
If the state has any hope of heading off a looming “tidal wave”
of residential water shut offs and bankrupt water systems, it
has to get a picture of current impacts… Which is why the
State Water Resources Control Board directed staff on Tuesday
to begin a survey of California’s nearly 3,000 community water
systems.
For years, the Orange County Water District has expressed
interest in buying the desalted water, provided Poseidon
receives the necessary regulatory permits. But the water
district’s appetite for the controversial project could be in
jeopardy after Nov. 3, if two board members who support the
project are upset in their reelection bids and replaced by
Poseidon skeptics.
Unfortunately, some Wall Street water companies are trying to
take advantage of California’s drought fears by pushing through
overpriced and unnecessary water projects. Poseidon Water Co.
is one of those companies. Poseidon has been working for years
to build a seawater desalination plant in Orange County,
seeking a deal that would lock the local utility into buying
their water for decades, regardless of need.
Some call it a “quiet revolution.” Others, a “hostile
takeover.” Either way, on the heels of a severe drought, a
group of wealthy Montecitans, many of them members of the
Birnam Wood and Valley Club golf courses on East Valley Road,
will gain control over all aspects of water policy on November
3 and for the foreseeable future in this exclusive enclave of
one-acre lots and large estates.
Two lawsuits accusing the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater
Authority of ramming through a plan that ignores water rights
and, according to one plaintiff, is intended to “destroy
agriculture” were filed this week. At issue is a controversial
$2,000-per-acre-foot fee that would be charged to certain
groundwater users over a five-year period. That money is
intended to raise $50 million to buy Central Valley water and,
somehow, bring it over the Sierra Nevada to replenish the
overdrafted desert aquifer.
Participants will pay $1,295 per acre-foot for treated water,
while municipal and industrial users will pay $1,769 per
acre-foot. Farmers who participate will receive a lower level
of water service during shortages or emergencies. That allows
the water authority to reallocate those supplies to commercial
and industrial customers who pay for full reliability benefits.
In exchange, participating farmers are exempt from fixed water
storage and supply reliability charges.
Only a few minutes away from our beautiful Coachella Valley
golf courses and music festival locations, there are thousands
of people living in conditions without access to clean water or
reliable sanitation services. For these families, if something
breaks in the private water system serving their home, they go
without water.
Last week on these pages, you heard the President of California
American Water explain their rationale for withdrawing their
application for a desalination plant from the California
Coastal Commission the day before their Sept. 17 hearing. What
he didn’t tell you is that there is a feasible alternative
project that has less environmental impact, is more socially
just, and would be less costly to ratepayers
The Vallecitos Water District in San Marcos filed a lawsuit
Thursday alleging the San Diego County Water Authority
overcharged by nearly $6 million for desalinated water that was
never delivered, despite an agreement to construct a pipeline
for that exact purpose.
Q&A with Greg Pierce, associate director of the Luskin
Center for Innovation at UCLA and a senior researcher, leading
the Water, Environmental Equity, and Transportation programs.
“Overall, water affordability is a big topic, and it’s new
enough that it doesn’t have an entrenched definition. There are
no state or federal support programs, and drinking water
systems are super fragmented. That’s true nationally and in
California, where we have 3,000 community water systems.”
Emergency regulations adopted by the State Water Resources
Control Board will raise fees for water-quality and
water-rights programs. Agricultural organizations criticized
the action and its timing, but board members said the new fees
would be needed to keep its programs solvent.
The Central Contra Costa Sanitary District Board of Directors
is one of the special districts set to appear on San Ramon
Valley voters’ ballots during the Nov. 3 election, with six
candidates vying for three at-large seats on the sewer board.
California American Water has withdrawn its Peninsula
desalination project bid at the Coastal Commission on the eve
of the commission’s special meeting, citing social and
environmental justice issues.
Dr. Ellen Bruno is a Cooperative Extension Specialist in the
Department of Ag and Resource Economics at UC Berkeley. At a
recent Silver Solutions webinar, she shared some of the
preliminary results on a paper she is working on… The study
considers the impacts of agricultural water pricing and the
effect on water use and land use change.
The board of directors of the Metropolitan Water District of
Southern California Tuesday approved a cost-cutting plan to
reduce expenditures in response to lower water sales and
concerns about the financial impacts of COVID-19 on its member
agencies. The cuts will save about $11.7 million…
The Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority has taken actions
recently with regards to fees that will affect customers of the
Indian Wells Valley Water District. … It is my intent to
provide context for how these fees will translate to your bill
from the district.
The San Diego County Water Authority and its 24 member agencies
have taken action to protect ratepayers by implementing strong
cost-cutting strategies to limit rate increases without
sacrificing a safe and reliable water supply or the ability to
plan for the future. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for
the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California.
The Rancho California Water District agreed to authorize
its general manager to negotiate bond issuances to save the
district an estimated $1.3 million. The savings will help cover
the loss expected when the board agreed to halt rate increases
during the COVID-19 pandemic last month.
With the recession and the COVID-19 pandemic causing economic
havoc nationally and across Southern California, the San Diego
County Water Authority has adopted several cost-cutting
strategies to reduce rate increases and it’s asking the Los
Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California to do the same.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is extending its
Emergency Residential Community Assistance Program, designed to
help customers struggling to pay water, sewer and Hetch Hetchy
power bills during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program, which
launched in May, was originally set to expire Sept. 4, but will
now be expanded through the end of the year
In April, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order placing a
moratorium on water shutoffs and requiring reconnections for
households disconnected after March 4. … But record
unemployment means California should expect a tsunami of water
shutoffs when the moratorium ends and bills come due.
The water system owned by the city of Montebello is primarily
made up of old concrete pipes made with asbestos, a once-common
part of water and drainage systems. This system has not been
properly maintained, and is now in need of $50 million worth of
health and safety repairs and improvements. Why has this been
allowed to occur you may ask?
Marybel Batjer, president of the California Public Utilities
Commission, said Executive Director Alice Stebbins had taken
the “appalling and disgraceful” step of deliberately hiring a
“marginally qualified former colleague” over better-suited
candidates, among other claims detailed in a report from the
State Personnel Board….The commission watches over
investor-owned electric and gas companies as well as
telecommunications, water, rail and passenger transportation
businesses.
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, millions of Americans have
relied on emergency orders put in place by state and local
governments that bar utilities from shutting off services such
as gas, electricity and water. However, many of these orders
will expire by the end of September, leaving 34.5 million
households without shutoff protections…Only seven states —
California, Connecticut, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, New
York and Wyoming — and Washington, D.C. do not have
expiration dates set on their moratorium orders…
A water district serving 25 cities and 1.6 million residents in
southeast Los Angeles County, already waging a battle with
customers and the state Legislature over its future, has fired
nearly two-thirds of its employees in a last-ditch effort to
stabilize district finances. The budget cuts … decimated the
scandal-plagued Central Basin Municipal Water District’s
organizational chart, removing every department head, most of
its engineers and its entire water resources department all at
once.
The California Public Utilities Commission, siding with
its consumer-advocate arm, voted 4-1 to halt what are known as
water-revenue adjustment mechanisms, which sometimes resulted
in unexpected surcharges on ratepayers’ monthly bills.
The estimated fee would be $24 a month for the average
residential user presuming a five-year repayment period,
according to Gleason. The fee would reportedly collect some $50
million which would be used to purchase water rights for
imported water, presuming the same users continue using the
water at roughly the same rate.
Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority voted 4-1 to pass the
replenishment fee despite significant public opposition. …
Although residential users will see an estimated $24 per month
increase, Searles Valley Minerals will see a 7,000-percent
increase in water costs.
A ruling that promises to rein in surcharges appearing on the
water bills of 3 million ratepayers in Monterey County and
elsewhere is coming up for a vote at the California Public
Utilities Commission Thursday. The reform is proposed by CPUC
Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves with backing from the
agency’s Public Advocate’s Office. Aceves says the surcharge
system failed to incentivize conservation and just ended up
making water more expensive.
Simply updating costs to this latest estimate ($15.9 billion in
2020 dollars is equivalent to $15 billion in the 2017$) reduces
the benefit-cost ratio for State Water Project urban agencies
from 1.23 to 0.92, and for agricultural agencies from 1.17 to
0.87. That’s a bad investment, but it is actually much worse
than that.
Earlier this month, CSU-Fresno hosted the event “Funding Water
Infrastructure in the San Joaquin Valley.” The majority of the
event was focused on the so-called “Water Blueprint for the San
Joaquin Valley,” a high profile new investment plan for
irrigation water. At the event, the Blueprint rolled out a
proposed funding plan – the centerpiece of which is a proposed
0.5% special sales tax in the 8 counties of the San Joaquin
Valley.
Rick Aragon, assistant general manager of Rancho Water, said
that at the time of the first deferral, it was assumed that the
COVID-19 pandemic restrictions would be lessened by early fall
and that the board could reconsider rate increases. … Aragon
said the deferral would reduce the district’s revenue by more
than $858,000, but he said the district had a good fiscal year
recently.
The basin replenishment fee was passed by the Indian Wells
Valley Groundwater Authority with a vote of four to one Friday
afternoon. IWV Water District Director Ron Kicinski was the
sole no vote. The IWVGA voted after the basin replenishment fee
protest hearing Friday failed. The IWVGA did not announce the
number of protest votes received…
Residents and small businesses in Visalia who were struggling,
even before the economic shut down of COVID-19 to make ends
meet, should be very concerned about a proposal the California
Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is considering that would
increase water bills for millions of Californians, including
low-income customers who use the least amount of water.
’The “Save Searles” campaign was launched Tuesday, three days
before the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority
public hearing on a controversial replenishment fee. The fee
would increase water costs for Searles Valley Minerals by
nearly $6 million a year, “pushing the company and the local
community towards extinction,” according to the campaign…
The proposed fee to be charged is $4.92 per acre foot of which
$1.61 would go to administration/overhead, $1.78 would go to
professional services, 65 cents would go to water accounting
and 88 cents would go to technical monitoring. The agency’s
budget for 2020-2021 is $1,519,210. The fee would fund $759,605
of the budget.
The proposed replenishment fee is $2,130 per acre-foot of
extracted water. This represents a composite fee which covers
the estimated imported water purchase cost of $2,112 per
acre-foot extracted and $17.50 per acre-foot extracted for
estimated costs to mitigate shallow wells from overdraft
damage… This would work out to an estimated fee of $24 per
month for the average residential user…
Running water had been guaranteed to about two-thirds of
Americans as hundreds of utilities suspended disconnections
amid warnings from public health experts that good hygiene,
particularly hand-washing, was crucial to curtailing the spread
of the virus. But now at least 115 local moratoriums on water
disconnections … have expired. That leaves 46 million or so
people at risk of having their taps turned off… [Note: The
story makes no reference to California.]
To keep California City looking green and beautiful in addition
to saving money, the City Council approved a temporary
acre-foot water rate change. … City Staff is working with
Quad Knopf, a civil engineering company, to extensively review
water rates and have a water rate study completed the next few
months.
The California Supreme Court ruled that water rates and other
local utility charges are considered “taxes” for the purpose of
California Constitution Article II, Section 9 and therefore
exempt from the referendum process.
If passed, the new program would promote water conservation and
make water bills more affordable and transparent for millions
of residents, benefitting both low-income customers and those
who use less water.
The short answer is, the replenishment fee is a per-acre-foot
extraction fee proposed by the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater
Authority to pay for mitigation of registered shallow wells
damaged by continuing overdraft, as well as to begin importing
water necessary to balance the groundwater basin. A public
hearing regarding the fee is scheduled for 10 a.m. Aug. 21 at
city hall.
After years marked by a historic statewide drought and
devastating floods around downtown San Jose, Santa Clara
County’s largest water provider has decided to ask voters to
approve a parcel tax to pay for a wide variety of projects,
from flood control to creek restoration, along with some costs
of rebuilding the county’s largest dam at Anderson Reservoir.
Most Americans give little thought to water bills, paying them
on time and in full. But for a subset of homeowners and
renters, water debt is constant and menacing. The burden is an
extension of two notable national trends: the rising cost of
water service and the general precarity of those at the bottom
of the economic pecking order. A missed bill or faulty plumbing
can spell financial doom… Sophia Skoda, the chief
financial officer for East Bay Municipal Utility District, in
California, said that Congress needs “to step up to its
responsibility” to ensure that water and sewer service is
affordable for all people.
The Santa Barbara City Council unanimously passed a motion
Tuesday to introduce and subsequently adopt an ordinance
authorizing a grant funding agreement with the State Department
of Water Resources in the amount of $10 million for
reactivation of the Charles E. Meyer Desalination Plant.
As early as Aug. 6, the California Public Utilities Commission
could vote to adopt a proposal that would eliminate a
best-practice regulatory tool – known as decoupling – that
currently removes the incentive of water suppliers to sell more
water. This significant change has the potential to hamper
water conservation efforts in California and raise rates for
millions of customers without providing them any corresponding
benefit …
The Emergency Assistance for Rural Water Systems Act allows
USDA Rural Development to provide affordable and sustainable
financial options for rural utilities impacted by COVID-19.
Assistance includes grants, zero percent loans, one percent
loans, principal and interest reduction, loan modifications and
direct operational assistance…
The Santa Barbara City Council voted 7-0 on Tuesday to accept a
$10 million grant — with the understanding that it will run the
plant at full capacity for at least 36 out of the next 40
years. Some environmentalists objected to the council’s
decision, citing environmental concerns.
The city of Bellflower wants to sell its aging water system to
a big for-profit water company that is better able to manage
it. But the deal could fall through. That’s because state
regulators say the price is so high, it could hurt water
customers across Southern California.
The rural Northern California town of Dunsmuir can impose a
water rate hike on residents to fund a $15 million system
upgrade, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday.
Some Bakersfield residents’ water bills will be fundamentally
restructured, with big cost implications, if the California
Public Utilities Commission votes Thursday to end an experiment
that 12 years ago erased a financial incentive to sell people
more water.
The Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority’s notice of an
upcoming public hearing on a basin replenishment fee has
attracted a lot of attention from water users in the valley,
but not everyone understands what the IWVGA is.
Long Beach’s financial future has been thrust into uncertainty
by the COVID-19 pandemic, but existing litigation over its
practice of charging city-run utilities to access rights of
ways could blow a nearly $20 million hole in future budgets if
the city loses a court appeal.
In a court filing, San Benito Foods accused the Hollister City
Council of “extortion of fees” for removing sludge from pond #2
at the city’s industrial wastewater treatment plant, which the
cannery uses to dispose of its wastewater, and that it is in
breach of an agreement between the city and the company.
While the city has suspended shutting off water accounts for
non-payment and has been working with its customers to set up
payment plans, more relief was needed. To help offset some of
the burdens of COVID-19, the Millbrae City Council voted
unanimously this month to defer the July 1, 2020, water rate
increase until January 1, 2021.
The coronavirus economic crash is tightening the financial vise
on utilities that supply water and sanitation across the
country, potentially putting water companies on the verge of
financial insolvency while millions of Americans struggle to
pay their utility bills.
San Diego’s water utility is preparing to absorb a five percent
spike in rates this year despite cries from elected officials
to freeze costs during a global pandemic. Why? The blame often
gets passed up the proverbial pipeline.
In 1961, Placer County voters overwhelmingly approved the sale
of bonds to finance construction of the Middle Fork American
River Hydroelectric Project (MFP). Nearly 60 years later, with
the bonds fully paid and financial reserves fully funded, the
first-ever distribution of net revenue from the MFP has been
made…
Utility disconnections due to non-payment have surged over the
last decade and some financial projections show electric
utility costs are likely to increase 15-35% over the next three
years.
San Diego homes and businesses have been improperly charged
tens of millions of dollars for a program that keeps toxic
sewer water from being discharged into the Pacific Ocean, the
City Auditor’s Office has found. A new report from Interim City
Auditor Kyle Elser said the city has failed to charge
Industrial Wastewater Control Program permit holders enough to
cover the costs of the program.
Local water users will pay higher groundwater extraction fees
to close the gap between estimated and actual costs associated
with the Groundwater Sustainability Plan required by
California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. The fee
increase was approved on Thursday by the Indian Wells Valley
Groundwater Authority.
There are significant health risks associated with falling
behind on bills and getting disconnected from utilities, said
Diana Hernández, an assistant professor of sociomedical
sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public
Health, and these risks are amplified by the extreme
temperatures caused by climate change.
Inserted where the meter connects to the service line, the
device cuts the flow of water into the home to a trickle.
Phoenix, which began using the devices in early March, only to
remove them a few weeks later once the pandemic happened,
believes it is the first U.S. utility to use flow restrictors
instead of shutting off water to households that are behind on
their bills.
The new “owner-only” system means that new utility accounts in
the city using city services can only be opened in the name of
the property owner—this includes homeowners and owners of
apartment properties. … The Stockton City Council opted for
the new ordinance after a Jan. 2018 council meeting addressing
unpaid bills. Delinquent payments were prompted by billing
issues with Stockton’s dual water service providers–the city
of Stockton and Cal Water.
The cost of buying cases of bottled water for cooking and
drinking is adding up for residents of Earlimart, where a
contaminated well became the main source of tap water for more
than 8,000 people there in late May. The State Water Resources
Control Board that is responsible for drinking water has a
program to provide financial assistance for bottled water to
help communities in crisis. It has not been available in
Earlimart — and it is unclear why.
Overtime pay at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
(LADWP) hit a record-high $258 million last year, up 90 percent
from 2013. … The average LADWP worker made $136,045 last
year, with a record-high 320 employees receiving overtime pay
of at least $100,000. That number is up over 1,000% from 2013
The public last week had its first opportunity to pepper
officials with questions about the Lake Powell Pipeline’s
recently-released draft environmental impact statement, a
313-page document from the Bureau of Reclamation examining how
the controversial project could impact a myriad of resources in
several scenarios.
With families at home more during the COVID-19 shelter in
place, water and sewer bills are on the rise. Combine that with
economic hardship due to business closures and reduced work,
and families are struggling to get by. The City of Santa Clara
is responding to this challenge with a new program to assist
residential customers. Those who have been harmed by COVID-19’s
impacts may be able to get a 25% discount on their bill.
