City ups water rates 9 percent
Council members say rate hike is needed to cover costs
By Eliav Appelbaum eliav@theacorn.com

Water rates in Camarillo will increase by 9 percent on Jan. 1, and will rise another 9 percent in 2009.

Even though the City Council voted 50 in favor of the resolution, it was passed with a measure of gravity and regret.

"It hurts to do this," Mayor Jan McDonald said after the vote.

Councilmember Mike Morgan added, "It affects everyone."

The increase will affect the city's water system and the Camarillo Airport. The resolution was approved in order to meet the rising cost of providing adequate supplies of safe water.

According to Director of Finance Ronnie Campbell, the last water rate increase, involving restructuring of the tier system, was adopted June 17, 1998.

The coming rate increases the price of water to residential and nonresidential customers by 9.2 and 9.4 percent, respectively. For example, if an average household meter shows the use of 5 hundred cubic feet (HCF), which currently costs $18.10 a month, that rate will go up on the first of the year to $19.74. In 2009, that rate will rise $21.53. One HCF is equal to 748 gallons of water.

Nonresidential customers within the Camarillo Airport Water Zone pay a higher rate than residents. For 5 HCF, the current monthly rate is $30.22. That figure will go up to $32.17 next year and $34.29 in 2009.

Although the rates are rising, Camarillo's residential charges compare favorably to nearby jurisdictions. For a metered 10 HCF, Camarillo will pay $26.29. However, Simi Valley pays $46.30 for the same amount of water, Thousand Oaks $31.09, and Oxnard $27.15 pay more for their water as well. Moorpark pays $22.05.

Camarillo imports 50 percent of its water from three local groundwater wells pumped from the Fox Canyon Aquifer. The rest of the city's water is imported from Northern California by the Calleguas Municipal Water District.

The water from Fox Canyon and Calleguas is blended together in two of the wells, which can pump up to 4.4 million gallons per day. The third well is used only in emergencies.

Imported water travels through reservoirs, aqueducts and pump stations before it's treated at the MWD Jensen Filtration Plant in Granada Hills. From there, Calleguas takes the imported water and distributes it to over half a million Ventura County customers.

Portions of the city are also served by the Camrosa Water District, Crestview Mutual Water Co. and the Pleasant Valley Mutual Water Co.

The airport received its water from the county until August 2006, when the Camarillo Water Division purchased the airport's water system.

Although the council expected some public outrage about the rate hike, nobody came to speak on the issue during last Wednesday's meeting.

Due to technical difficulties, the meeting was not televised locally and it wasn't discussed until the end of the night in the hope that people might show up late for the public hearing item.

Camarillo residents David Shepard and Gareth Neumann voiced their displeasure via letters to the council and City Manager Jerry Bankston before the issue came to a vote.

"Since moving to Camarillo in 2001 my total cost of cityprovided services has risen over 10 percent each year- nearly three times the rate of inflation," Shepard said.

"With the new increases the city is on track to maintain that average. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people living here who are on fixed incomes and these continuing increases become quite a burden," he said.