By Mary O’KEEFE
Crescenta Valley Water District will be holding a public hearing on June 13 at 6 p.m. concerning a proposed increase in water rates and charges. If the rate increase is approved residents could see an average increase of about $11 per two-month period “for a typical residence with a three-quarter inch meter using 17 units of water (17,000 gallons) during a two-month billing period,” stated a mailer from CVWD to residents.
This would increase the typical bill from $133.33 to $144.25 per two-month billing cycle.
The reasons behind the rate increase are aging infrastructure and the drought.
“Infrastructure is certainly one of the factors,” said Tom Love, CVWD general manager. “We have pipelines that are over 70 years old.”
Some of the pipes that were installed in the 1950s have no protection from corrosion. When looking at what needs to be replaced, CVWD reviews when a pipe was installed, its make up and how many leaks have occurred in the past.
Another reason for the proposed increase is continued fall-out from the drought. Although the state of California has received a record amount of rainfall this past season, it is not enough to replenish and replace what was lost over the five-year-plus drought.
“We had the wettest year on record in the north Sierras. Our supplies [there] have quickly recovered,” he said.
The increased water supply has surprised many in the water management field and that has helped the general suppliers like Metropolitan Water District; however, the rains’ benefits have yet to be seen at the local well level.
“To get to our wells, the rain has to [travel] through hundreds of feet of soil,” Love said. That soil has been dried by years of drought, so as the water soaks through the layers of earth it gets absorbed by the dry dirt and does not as easily pass through to the wells.
Pre-drought the CVWD would get about 60% of its water from local wells.
“But today we get 40%,” Love added. “We are buying [more] imported water.”
If the increase is not approved, CVWD states there will be consequences, including more frequent service disruptions due to failing facilities, increased costs from emergency repairs and loss of water, a decreased utility credit rating and an impact on water quality.
Love encourages people to come to the meeting on June 13 but also to write letters of protest if they have issues and to contact the CVWD if they would like more information.
Any CVWD customer or property owner can file a written protest of the proposed rate changes by sending a letter to CVWD, 2700 Foothill Blvd., La Crescenta, California 91214. Letters must include the customer’s name, CVWD service address, statement of protest and an original signature. The letter must be received no later than June 13 at 4:30 p.m. Letters received prior to June 9 at noon will be included in the agenda package distributed to the board of directors and posted online at www.cvwd.com.
The board will meet on June 20 at 7 p.m. to consider the proposed changes and may adopt, reject or modify the proposed rate structure.
Anyone with questions can contact CVWD at (818) 248-3925 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or email water@cvwd.com.
More information can be found at www.cvwd.com.
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