Water Authority approves water rate increases

By Joe Naiman
The Alpine Sun

     SAN DIEGO — The San Diego County Water Authority board approved rates and charges for the upcoming year that increase water purchase rates and other charges.
     The June 25 SDCWA board vote was not unanimous, as Olivenhain Municipal Water District representative Mark Muir voted to oppose the higher rates and charges. “Our customers are already faced with tough economic times. We therefore should be more sensitive to their current financial situation,” Muir said.
     “While I appreciate the cost containment efforts by the Water Authority staff, it is especially important to show the public that we are doing everything we can to reduce our controllable expenditures.”
     While the CWA’s treated water rate will increase by 18.1 percent, much of the CWA’s supply is obtained from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which increased its treated water rates by 21.1 percent. “What we’ve been able to do is shave off three percent of that increase,” said CWA general manager Maureen Stapleton.
     During Fiscal Year 2007-08 the CWA obtained 71 percent of its water supply from purchases of MWD water. The CWA’s water rates are based on a melded rate involving delivery of water from MWD and water purchased from the Imperial Irrigation District.
     Because MWD implemented its rate increase effective Sept. 1, the new rates based on the purchase and transport of water will also take effect Sept. 1, rather than at the beginning of the calendar year, as has been the case in the past. The rates are those the CWA charges to its member agencies, who can either absorb the rate increases or pass them on to retail customers.
     “It’s what we expected,” said Ramona Municipal Water District general manager Ralph McIntosh, Ramona’s representative on the CWA board.
     The CWA municipal and industrial rate per acre foot of untreated water will increase from $463 to $532. The untreated water rate per acre foot was $390 in 2008 and $365 in 2007. The surcharge for treated water, which was increased from $164 per acre foot in 2008 to $168 per acre foot in 2009, will be increased to $215 per acre foot.
     The Interim Agricultural Water Program provided surplus MWD supplies to agricultural customers at a discounted rate, and the IAWP conditions allowed for a reduction of up to 30 percent prior to implementing any mandatory reductions to municipal and industrial customers. MWD is phasing out the IAWP program, and the untreated water rate per acre foot, which increased from $261 in 2008 to $322 in 2009 will increase to $394 for the final four months of 2009 and to $416 for 2010.
     The IAWP treated water rate will increase from $465 to $587 for water used between September and December 2009 and to $615 for purchases made in 2010.
     The phase-out of the IAWP program means that rates for agricultural customers will increase more than the rates for municipal and industrial customers. “The ag customers are bearing a tremendous increase in their rate,” said Rua Petty, the Rainbow Municipal Water District representative on the CWA board.
     The CWA’s transportation rate, which is set to recover capital, operating, and maintenance costs of the aqueduct system, will increase from $64 to $67 per acre foot.
     The Infrastructure Access Charge is used for CWA fixed expenditures, which are incurred even when water use is reduced. The CWA board approved an increase in the Infrastructure Access Charge from $1.90 to $2.02 per meter equivalent. That increase will take effect January 1.
     The June 25 hearing also approved the pro-rata allocation of charges based on deliveries to each agency. The CWA’s Customer Service Charge, which is also intended to recover costs that support the operations of the CWA and is allocated among member agencies based on a three-year rolling average of all deliveries, was increased from $16 million to $18 million. The Padre Dam Municipal Water District will pay $464,711 of that amount.
     The Storage Charge, which recovers costs related to emergency storage programs and is allocated based on a pro-rata share of non-agricultural deliveries, will increase from $23 million to $34 million. Padre Dam’s assessment will be $952,079.
     The Customer Service Charge and Storage Charge increases will take effect January 1.
     The CWA also has a Standby Availability Charge of $10 per acre or $10 for a parcel under one acre, and that remains unchanged.
     MWD also has a Readiness to Serve Charge, which is set on a fiscal year basis and which also involves credits for the standby charge and administrative costs. The CWA’s share will increase from $10,865,652 to $17,481,664 after increasing last year from $9,782,918 to $10,865,652. Padre Dam has a net obligation of $267,438.
     The MWD Capacity Charge, which is allocated to CWA member agencies proportionally based on a five-year rolling average of flows during peak periods, will increase from $8,812,800 to $9,331,200 effective January 1 after remaining unchanged between 2008 and 2009. Padre Dam’s share of the total is $275,009.

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