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.
San Diego’s main water seller OK’d a less-doomy price increase
than the region was expecting, setting it at 14 percent on
Thursday. To make that work, the San Diego County Water
Authority will have to find $2 million it can cut from its
budget and delay some anti-earthquake-related upgrades to its
biggest aqueducts. Those cuts save ratepayers from an
anticipated 18 percent beginning January 1. But 14 percent is
still the largest annual rate increase on the wholesale price
of San Diego water since 2011, Water Authority records
show. Now each of San Diego’s 22 separate water districts
will have to figure out how to shoulder that cost or pass it
onto customers, depending on the health of their own
budgets.
The for-profit company feeding water to six Santa Clara County
cities may agree to walk back its plan for a 22% water rate
hike over three years. State officials are in the process of
developing a settlement with the San Jose Water Company that
would adjust its controversial January proposal, after
residents during hearings this summer questioned how working
families or seniors on fixed incomes could absorb the
increases. “(The settlement) would see the rate increases more
aligned with anticipated inflation,” Richard Rauschmeier,
program manager of the California Public Utilities Commission’s
Public Advocates Office, told San José Spotlight.
“Utilities race to be second. And sometimes it’s better to be
third.” So said Fred Pickel, the Los Angeles Department of
Water and Power’s in-house ratepayer advocate, at a DWP board
meeting in December 2019, a few months before the pandemic
brought everyday life to a screeching halt. He was discussing
the city’s first-of-its-kind plan to convert a coal plant to
green hydrogen — a key piece of L.A.’s plans to reach 100%
clean energy by 2035. Pickel was intrigued. But he was also
concerned that the coal-to-hydrogen conversion would be
expensive, driving up electric bills for DWP
customers. Five years later, he’s singing the same song.
… Pickel now recommends that the city delay its 100%
clean energy goal beyond the 2035 target established by
former Mayor Eric Garcetti and supported by current Mayor Karen
Bass, and endorsed by the City Council.
Rising water prices are forcing many households in the United
States to choose between rationing water or risking shutoff by
leaving bills unpaid. A new study in Environmental Research
Letters shows government agencies and water utilities may be
underestimating the true number of households at risk of losing
affordable access to basic water service – and offers a
solution. … Accurate assessments of water affordability are
important because they inform decisions about utility rates,
assistance programs, and eligibility for government financing
for infrastructure improvements.
Despite rising water rates, the city of Carlsbad has opted
against prepaying fixed charges to the county’s wholesale water
supplier in exchange for discounted rates in 2025. In late May,
the San Diego County Water Authority asked its 23 member
agencies, including the Carlsbad Municipal Water District, to
consider a prepayment option. On June 27, the San Diego
County Water Authority board approved a 4% increase in
wholesale water rights. While that number is far less than the
15% to 18% increase that was previously projected, the water
authority plans to consider additional charges to support its
maintenance and operations and financial stability later this
month during a public hearing scheduled for July 25.
The California Supreme Court on Monday reversed the state’s
Public Utilities Commission’s 2020 order that stopped water
companies from using certain surcharges when their revenue
falls short because of conservation efforts. The court agreed
with a group of water companies that the commission hadn’t
clearly informed them that it would consider eliminating the
so-called decoupling mechanisms — initially prompted by years
of drought and the need to conserve water — in the scoping
memos for the yearslong rulemaking proceedings that culminated
in the 2020 order. The scoping memos identify what possible
rule changes the commission will be considering, and they give
the utilities an opportunity to prepare their arguments and
evidence to address them. In this case, the court said, the
memos only referred to how to improve water sales forecasting,
not to eliminating the decoupling mechanisms.
San Franciscans: Brace yourselves for skyrocketing utility
rates. Combined water and sewer bills will increase by 8%
annually, tripling over the next 20 years. Hetch Hetchy
customers outside of San Francisco will get hit hard, too, and
the situation is likely to get much worse. The current rate
crisis is the result of decades of deferred maintenance, and
the failure to recognize and adapt to changing water use
patterns. Over many years, utility revenues were used to
subsidize general city services rather than to maintain and
upgrade the Hetch Hetchy Water System and wastewater
infrastructure. At the same time, per capita water use declined
and population growth slowed, reducing revenues. The San
Francisco Public Utilities Commission is now playing catch-up
on a massive infrastructure backlog. —written by Peter Drekmeier, policy director for the
Tuolumne River Trust and former mayor of Palo Alto
Local water bills might not be going up quite as sharply next
year as expected. The [San Diego] County Water Authority’s
board tentatively shrank a proposed rate hike for wholesale
water from 18 percent to 14 percent on Thursday — despite
concerns the move could hurt the water authority’s credit
rating. An increase in wholesale rates will force nearly every
local water agency to pass on the extra costs to its customers,
but just how much gets passed on could vary widely. Some
agencies buy less wholesale water than others, especially those
with groundwater basin storage or other local water supplies.
The board delayed a final vote on the proposed 2025 increase to
its July 25 meeting, but a coalition led by the city of San
Diego had enough support Thursday to reduce the increase to 14
percent. It would be part of a three-year set of rate hikes
that would cumulatively raise rates by more than 40 percent
when compounded — if the board also follows through on a 16.4
percent increase in 2026 and a 5.7 percent increase in 2027.
Thursday [June 27] is doomsday for water prices in San Diego.
That’s when the region’s water importer – the San Diego County
Water Authority – debates whether to boost its prices a
whopping 18 percent come Jan. 1. The price increase is massive
compared to previous rate increases, and the Water Authority’s
biggest customer, the city of San Diego, is pretty ticked off.
… San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria directed his powerful
contingent of 10 water board members to fight the increase. We
won’t know how hard they’ll fight until the full 33-member
board meets Thursday afternoon to vote on it. Gloria’s
administration is building a water recycling project, which
costs billions of dollars. Once its built, in 2035, San Diego
won’t buy as much water from the Water Authority. But for now,
San Diegans are saddled with the cost of building water
recycling and purchasing expensive water from outside city
boundaries.
Ramona Municipal Water District directors approved water rate
increases for customers starting July 1 and will decide whether
to continue raising rates each year through fiscal year
2028-29. The rate increase was approved at the water district’s
June 11 meeting by a 4-1 vote with Director Gary Hurst opposed.
The new rates for the 2024-25 fiscal year are based on volume
of water used, monthly service charges and water pumping costs,
according to a staff report. The average water bill will
increase from roughly $129 per month to $142, an increase of
about $13.68, said the water district’s Chief Financial Officer
Joe Spence. But the actual charges on a water bill will vary
depending on the volume of water used each month and the size
of the customers’ water meter.
The letter that brought down Adel Hagekhalil, the general
manager of the Metropolitan Water District, is getting buried
by the news it generated. Politico first revealed
… claims of dysfunctional management and harassment led
the Metropolitan Board of Directors to place Hagekhalil on
administrative leave and appoint an interim general
manager. Hagekhalil is probably done. Environmentalists
are worried Metropolitan’s establishment is forcing him out for
siding with them. But the letter itself hinted at a major
disagreement between its author, Metropolitan’s chief financial
officer, and San Diego representatives on the Metropolitan
board. And that disagreement could have been part of what
provoked the CFO to write the letter and thus led to
Hagekhalil’s downfall.
… Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders are trying
to assassinate three initiatives that the people of California
put on the ballot using the powers of direct democracy. They
are attacking two initiatives that are set to be on this
November’s ballot, and one that was long ago approved by voters
and now is being hollowed out. That initiative is Proposition
218 from 1996. It amended the state constitution to put some
limits and controls on property-related fees and charges. For
example, public agencies planning a new or increased
“assessment,” such as higher rates for water service, have to
comply with certain procedures. -Written by columnist Susan Shelley.
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.
The bill is coming due, literally,
to protect and restore groundwater in California.
Local agencies in the most depleted groundwater basins in
California spent months putting together plans to show how they
will achieve balance in about 20 years.
Low-income Californians can get help with their phone bills, their natural gas bills and their electric bills. But there’s only limited help available when it comes to water bills.
That could change if the recommendations of a new report are implemented into law. Drafted by the State Water Resources Control Board, the report outlines the possible components of a program to assist low-income households facing rising water bills.
In the universe of California water, Tim Quinn is a professor emeritus. Quinn has seen — and been a key player in — a lot of major California water issues since he began his water career 40 years ago as a young economist with the Rand Corporation, then later as deputy general manager with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and finally as executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies. In December, the 66-year-old will retire from ACWA.
During drought, people conserve water. That’s a good thing for
public water agencies and the state as a whole but the reduction
in use ultimately means less money flowing into the budgets of
those very agencies that need funds to treat water to drinkable
standards, maintain a distribution system, and build a more
drought-proof supply.
“There are two things that can’t happen to a water utility – you
can’t run out of money and you can’t run out of water,” said Tom
Esqueda, public utilities director for the city of Fresno. He was
a panelist at a June 16 discussion in Sacramento about drought
resiliency sponsored by the Public Policy Institute of California
(PPIC).
This printed issue of Western Water examines water
infrastructure – its costs and the quest to augment traditional
brick-and-mortar facilities with sleeker, “green” features.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the
financing of water infrastructure, both at the local level and
from the statewide perspective, and some of the factors that
influence how people receive their water, the price they pay for
it and how much they might have to pay in the future.
This printed issue of Western Water looks at some of
the pieces of the 2009 water legislation, including the Delta
Stewardship Council, the new requirements for groundwater
monitoring and the proposed water bond.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the
changed nature of the California Water Plan, some aspects of the
2009 update (including the recommendation for a water finance
plan) and the reaction by certain stakeholders.
This printed copy of Western Water examines the challenges facing
small water systems, including drought preparedness, limited
operating expenses and the hurdles of complying with costlier
regulations. Much of the article is based on presentations at the
November 2007 Small Systems Conference sponsored by the Water
Education Foundation and the California Department of Water
Resources.
This printed issue of Western Water features a
roundtable discussion with Anthony Saracino, a water resources
consultant; Martha Davis, executive manager of policy development
with the Inland Empire Utilities Agency and senior policy advisor
to the Delta Stewardship Council; Stuart Leavenworth, editorial
page editor of The Sacramento Bee and Ellen Hanak, co-director of
research and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of
California.
Many Californians don’t realize that when they turn on the
faucet, the water that flows out could come from a source close
to home or one hundreds of miles away. Most people take their
water for granted; not thinking about the elaborate systems and
testing that go into delivering clean, plentiful water to
households throughout the state. Where drinking water comes from,
how it’s treated, and what people can do to protect its quality
are highlighted in this 2007 PBS documentary narrated by actress
Wendie Malick.
A 30-minute version of the 2007 PBS documentary Drinking Water:
Quenching the Public Thirst. This DVD is ideal for showing at
community forums and speaking engagements to help the public
understand the complex issues surrounding the elaborate systems
and testing that go into delivering clean, plentiful water to
households throughout the state.
It’s no secret that providing water in a state with the size and
climate of California costs money. The gamut of water-related
infrastructure – from reservoirs like Lake Oroville to the pumps
and pipes that deliver water to homes, businesses and farms –
incurs initial and ongoing expenses. Throw in a new spate of
possible mega-projects, such as those designed to rescue the
ailing Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and the dollar amount grows
exponentially to billion-dollar amounts that rival the entire
gross national product of a small country.
