Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
April 11, 2007
5. Agencies, Programs, People
RATE INCREASES:
Southern California's Metropolitan raises water rates - North County Times
RENEWABLE ELECTRICTY PROJECTS:
Water agency could use wind if bill gets OK - Desert Sun
RATE INCREASES:
By Gig Conaughton, staff writer
LOS ANGELES ---- Board members for
The 5.8 percent wholesale rate increase makes up only a portion of Southern California ratepayers' bills, and would probably only amount to about $1 to $1.50 a month hike for San Diego County ratepayers.
But Metropolitan's raise could trigger increases by other agencies, including the San Diego County Water Authority, which meets Thursday to discuss its own budget issues.
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Officials said the increase would not take effect until Jan. 1, 2008.
Metropolitan supplies drinking water, mainly from the Colorado River and Northern California rainfall and snow melt, to nearly 18 million Southern Californians in six counties, including
Metropolitan board members voted Tuesday to formally adopt the $30 per acre foot rate increase they tentatively approved in February, raising its rates from $478 per acre foot of treated water to $508 per acre foot. An acre foot of water is roughly 325,900 gallons, or enough water to sustain two households for a full year.
Metropolitan staff members first suggested that the agency could approve a $50 per acre foot, 10 percent increase, which reportedly "shocked"
Metropolitan officials blamed the increase on two factors:
- The increasing cost of electricity that is used to push billions of gallons of water from Northern California almost 2,000 feet up an over the Tehachapi Mountains and into Southern California.
- The increasing costs of treating water to make it safe to drink. Metropolitan has recently introduced expensive "ozone" treatment capabilities at several of its treatment plants. In general the cost of water consists of what it takes to maintain the infrastructure that delivers it from its source, an infrastructure made up of dames, reservoirs, pumping and treatment plants, to pipelines.
Water Authority board member and representative to the Metropolitan board Jim Bond could not be reached Tuesday for comment.
But Bond said when Metropolitan tentatively adopted the rate increase in February that the increase would be small for most ratepayers, but could trigger other rate increases by water agencies affected by Metropolitan's rates.
"It's cumulative," Bond said at the time. "It's only a buck and a half a month. Then, it's $1 for the Water Authority, and $1 for somebody else. Pretty soon, it's noticeable."
A number of local
Meanwhile, the Water Authority ---- which supplies nearly all the water that
Water Authority board members are scheduled to hold a special meeting Thursday to discuss a long-range costs study and to authorize their staff to begin budget deliberations.
Whatever increase the Water Authority adopts could be a lot higher than once thought because of the swelling costs of a $4 billion capital improvements projects list.
In December, Water Authority engineers announced that the list of projects had increased by 39.4 percent more than expected in just two years, from $3.106 billion to $4.33 billion.
The list of projects includes building and raising dams, linking reservoirs to create an "emergency storage project," lining canals, and building a $170 million water treatment plant.
Water Authority officials blamed the unexpected increase on the rising cost of building materials, a 'builders' market' that reduced competitive bidding for projects, and a faulty in-house system for estimating how much projects should cost in the first place. #
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/04/11/news/state/5_89_104_10_07.txt
RENEWABLE ELECTRICTY PROJECTS:
Water agency could use wind if bill gets OK
Desert Sun – 4/11/07
By Jake Henshaw, staff writer
The Desert Water Agency could develop more renewable electricity to help power its operation and save money if a bill that passed its first test becomes law.
Assembly Bill 140 by Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia,
Right now, the law creating the water agency in 1961 only allows it to produce power on its own with hydroelectric plants.
The agency has two hydroelectric facilities and a solar facility that was developed in a joint venture with Southern California Edison, according to David Luker, general manager of the water agency.
He said the agency can't do much more with hydroelectric power and wants the flexibility to develop its own additional power sources.
"We're doing $100,000 now" in savings with the existing renewable power facilities, Luker said.
By generating it's own power for the recycling plant, "we could probably triple that and make it $300,000. It really helps the rate payers."
The power generated is used in conjunction with Southern California Edison so the water agency meets it own needs and then sends excess power to the utility. At other times, such as night, the agency draws on SCE power.
As introduced, AB 140 would have allowed the water agency to use natural gas as well as renewable sources to generate more power, but that ran into opposition at the committee.
"What we are trying to do is diversify away from fossil fuels, and it seems to take us back in the other direction," Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento, said of the natural gas option.
Garcia agreed to amend her bill to drop natural gas. It was then approved unanimously and sent to the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee.
The goal is not to get into the retail power business, Luker emphasized.
"We're not interested in any way in the retail power business," he said. "That's the last thing we want."
He also said the agency doesn't have a specific project ready to go but is looking for an opportunity.
"It is something we definitely want to go after," Luker said.
Desert Water Agency now provides water service to
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