By Mary O’KEEFE

There has been a lot of conversation, outreach and debate concerning the proposed rate system change and rate increase by Crescenta Valley Water District (CVWD).

CVWD has done an extraordinary amount outreach concerning these proposals that includes hosting community meetings and sending out emails but there still seems to be some confusion on the rate system change. 

CVW sat down with CVWD General Manager James Lee and Arturo Montes, Finance and Administration manager, to talk about the proposal. 

One of the questions that a community member wanted answered concerned the rate increase and the increase by Metropolitan Water District (MWD). (To note the community member had asked about Dept. of Water and Power, which is in Los Angeles and not connected to CVWD.)

The question was: would the proposed 8% increase from CVWD be increased due to the MWD increases?

“We do buy from Metropolitan Water District,” responded Lee. “At this point, they have let us know that they believe (the) rate increase for this year is going to be 10%. The rate increase from them next year is going to be 20%. And so we have baked that into our budget.”

Lee emphasized that CVWD is not trying to hide fees but to be upfront with its proposed increases and how that money will be spent. He also added that MWD can easily come up with hiring rate hikes.

“We are stewards of a public agency that provides a public good and we are trying to do our best for the time that we’re managing to put this district and its customers in a favorable place for today and tomorrow,” he added. 

To that point, CVWD does have reserves that Lee feels are very important to have for the future and in fact have saved the district money. 

“We actually pre-purchased water and have it available,” Montes said. 

Recently, when the costs of the water supply was about $2,200 an acre foot (an acre foot is about the size of a football field), CVWD – because of its reserves – was able to purchase water at that cost. 

“You can imagine in three to five years from now, what is it going to cost? Three thousand dollars an acre foot?” Lee asked. “The only reason we were able to [purchase water] was because we had some reserve money.”

He added that several other nearby agencies were not able to take advantage of this early purchase because they do not have the reserves. 

“[That early purchase] is going to be about $1.2 million in savings,” he said. 

Lee added that CVWD looks at a number of ways to cut costs including having pipe replacement and repairs done in-house rather than hiring an outside contractor. 

The rate increase, and water costs rising throughout California as well as other states that get water from outside areas like the Colorado River, is not something too surprising. The droughts of the past have taken a toll and, due to Los Angeles’ water rights ordinances, it becomes very difficult for any water district outside of LA to move forward with water capture programs. 

One example is the pipe proposal by CVWD at the Dunsmore (Verdugo) Wash that passes through Crescenta Valley Park. The district wanted to place a pipe in the wash that would reroute rainwater to ground water; however, LADWP has the water rights. So even though the water in the wash goes into the LA River and then directly into the ocean, the CV community cannot stop that water from being wasted. 

What seems to be more confusing to customers is the rate system change that has been proposed. 

Presently the rate system is based on a simple tier process. Each house, regardless of size or household occupancy, is allotted a specific amount of ground water. Once that ground water is used, the household advances into a higher tier with a higher costs. The new system would be based on the size of the property and the occupancy of the household. 

“The difference in this tier structure versus the previous tier structure is how it’s divided,” Montes said. “Previously a family of two had 10 units of water available to them on a bimonthly cycle and a family of four had those same 10 units.”

This is of the first tier ground water. 

“A family of four actually needs those 10 units. [With] the new structure [the] average household size is four, [which] amounts to the same amount of water in tier one,” he added. “A two [person] household needs less water.”

A larger household is allowed more water in tier one. 

The analogy used by Lee is that of teams of teenagers and younger kids. All will get energy bars after practice; however, there are only so many bars to go around. Teenagers, due to their size, will require more food than smaller players. Smaller kids would not be given food they will not use. 

“The outdoor water usage, which is tier two, would not be affected by how many people you have in your house but is affected by how big your property is,” Montes said. 

The calculation of the property size does not distinguish between those with a pool or who have a grass yard. Montes said the district has done research and found that the same amount of water to refill a pool based on evaporation is the same amount as watering a grass lawn. 

Households are prone to change; for example, those who are now hosting fire victims or visiting family. Customers can contact CVWD and request a variance for present or future changes.