Water Authority board approves rate hike

By: WILLIAM FINN BENNETT - Staff Writer | Friday, June 29, 2007 12:22 AM PDT ∞

Water consumers in San Diego can expect an increase in their water rates in the coming year if local water districts decide to pass an 8 percent wholesale rate hike to their customers.

The hike was approved Thursday by the board of the San Diego County Water Authority, which sells water to local utilities.

The new rates, effective Jan. 1, are likely to increase average monthly water bills by up to an average of $2.25 per household.

Authority officials said Thursday they decided on the increase because their suppliers have raised prices on water the agency buys, and because construction and maintenance costs are on the rise for the authority's projects. The water authority sells water to 24 water districts and agencies in the county.

Water authority spokesman John Liarakos said that while the rate hike may be unpopular, the change in rates is "not that significant overall.

"More importantly, it is an investment in the long-term water reliability in San Diego County," he said.

The 8.1 percent increase comes to $51 an acre-foot for 2007, and will bring the estimated cost of an acre-foot of water to $679 each calendar year.

An acre-foot of water is roughly 325,000 gallons of water, or enough to sustain the water needs of two families of four for a year.

Among other things, the rate increases will help pay for several water authority projects, officials say, including a 100 million-gallon-per-day water treatment plant, the completion of a pipeline connecting the San Vicente Reservoir to the region's water distribution system and the creation of the All-American canal-lining project in Imperial County.

Most of the rate hike was made up of the rate increase the authority received from its own wholesale supplier, Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District. That water district supplies about half of Southern California's water.

In April, Metropolitan voted to adopt a $30 per acre-foot raise for its customers, raising its rates from $478 an acre-foot of treated water to $508 per acre-foot. Metropolitan officials blamed the rate increase on increasing costs of electricity used to carry the water and the spiking costs of treating water to make it safe to drink.

In general, the cost of water consists of what it takes to maintain the dams, reservoirs, treatment plants and pumps and pipelines that deliver the water from its source.

Locally, only about 22 percent of the county's water comes from local sources, such as ground water, local surface water, recycled water and through conservation. The rest is imported. Of that, about 60 percent comes from the Colorado River, and 40 percent from Northern California.

Contact staff writer William Finn Bennett (619) 200-6490 or wbennett@nctimes.com.

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