Water rates rising

Camarillo and other Southern California residents should brace for a major water rate increase.

Tom Fox, Camarillo's public works director, told the City Council last week the city will pay 70 percent more for water by January 2011.

Southern Californians are likely to feel the drain on their wallets because the Metropolitan Water District, wholesale supplier to Calleguas Municipal Water District and 25 other agencies throughout Southern California, will begin charging more money for less water.

Calleguas, the water supplier for southern Ventura County— including Simi Valley, Westlake Village, Camarillo and Oxnard—raised rates earlier this year. Combined with a 20 percent rate increase expected in September and another expected January 2011, the compounded effect is the equivalent of Camarillo paying 70 percent more for water than in December 2008, Fox said.

When Metropolitan raises its rates, Calleguas passes on the higher cost to its customers, Calleguas manager Eric Bergh said. Other agencies in Southern California will likely follow suit.

But Metropolitan is not just imposing higher rates. In July, the agency will cut down the amount of water it delivers, which may force Southern California cities to enact water conservation measures for residents and businesses

Fox said Camarillo will probably encourage conservation by charging more for high water use and by stepping up enforcement of a water shortage plan already in place.

How much water rates in Camarillo will go up is unknown for now, Fox said. This month, the City Council may consider hiring a firm to perform a rate study for pricing recommendations.

In Simi Valley, the water rates will probably climb 20 percent, said Joe Deakin, assistant director of public works, although he was unsure when. Deakin said his staff is working on a water conservation ordinance that could include fines. He expects to take such a proposal to the City Council May 11.

The Thousand Oaks City Council last week approved a conservation ordinance expected to go into effect in June. Residents could face fines for watering their lawns between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. or not using a shut-off valve on hoses when washing vehicles.

Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks have asked Calleguas and Metropolitan to postpone their increases until January, although neither agency has made a deci

sion.

Cities don't automatically pass on Calleguas' rate increases to customers. Each city depends on Calleguas water in varying amounts. Those closer to the Pacific Ocean are less dependent on imported water because they have more groundwater available. Cities farther from the ocean, such as Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley, are nearly 100 percent dependent on Calleguas water, Bergh said.

Sixty percent of the water Camarillo delivers comes from Calleguas, the rest from local ground sources. Augmenting Calleguas water with local water tends to stabilize Camarillo water bills, Fox said.

To tap into more local groundwater, Camarillo will look into repairing a well near St. John's Pleasant Valley Hospital. Fox plans to ask the City Council this month to spend $200,000 repairing the well, which could be operating by fall.

The city also has long-term plans to reduce its dependency on imported water. Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and Calleguas plan to build a desalination plant to take advantage of more groundwater. The project is in the planning stages, Fox said.

In addition, Calleguas is studying a potential underground water source, the South Las Posas Basin north of Camarillo, that could benefit Camarillo and neighboring cities in five years or more. A report on the feasibility of tapping into the previously unused source could be released in December.

To supply water to future development without driving up rates, the Camarillo City Council may consider requiring developers to prepare a study that identifies how much water their development will need and how they plan to supply it.

Why rates are rising

The Metropolitan Water District announced recently it will charge more money for less water.

Metropolitan, a public agency that delivers water to 26 agencies in six Southern California counties, gets water from the Colorado River and Northern California.

An eight-year drought has reduced the amount of water the Colorado River can contribute. Although the river is showing signs of recovery, any benefits to the agency won't be realized for years, Metropolitan spokesperson Bob Muir said.

Water from Northern California has also been cut back. Because of California's threeyear drought, Metropolitan has been tapping into reserves at reservoirs and underground storage. Regulatory restrictions on water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta have reduced the water supply as well.

The State Water Project pumps water through the delta, but government regulations recently cut the amount of time agencies can pump there—a measure intended to help the endangered delta smelt recover.

Even in an average year, the new regulations would reduce by 40 percent the amount of water the project can supply, Muir said.

—Michelle Knight