FACT

FICTION

From the WRD Facebook page: It’s all fiction (or bad math)

We wondered how the math was done on the suggested – “gallons on the penny”.  Here’s the real deal, to clarify these perpetuated misconceptions, we took this analysis to the chalkboard, grabbed the eraser and calculated – using real math.  

By following the same obscure logic provided by WRD, here’s what the appropriate charges should look like:

From CBMWD:  The Truth

For CBMWD:  325,900 / $90 per acre-foot = 3621.11 gallons / 100 = 36.2 gallons per penny (equivalent to 2.7 cents per 100 gallons)

For MWD:  325,900 / $591 per acre-foot = 551.43 gallons / 100 = 5.51 gallons per penny (equivalent to 18.1 cents per 100 gallons)

For WRD:  325,900 / $244 per acre-foot = 1335.65 gallons / 100 = 13.4 gallons per penny (equivalent to 7.5 cents per 100 gallons)

This breakdown includes Central Basin’s Administrative Charge at $70 and the Infrastructure surcharge at $20 per acre-foot.  For MWD, this correction uses the wholesale untreated Tier I rate at $560 plus the Readiness To Serve charge at $31 that Central Basin imposes per acre-foot.

From WRD:  Not True

For CBMWD:  325,900 / $915 per acre-foot = 356.17 gallons / 100 = 3.6 gallons per penny

For MWD:  325,900 / $812 per acre-foot = 401.35 gallons / 100 = 4.10 gallons per penny (based on untreated Tier 2 rate)

For WRD:  325,900 / $244 per acre-foot = 1335.65 gallons / 100 = 13.4 gallons per penny

(These equations were done by dividing the number of gallons within an acre-foot by the price of an acre-foot of water and then, divide again by 100 to arrive at the gallons per penny)

Fiction:

WRD is double counting the MWD rate into Central Basin’s and comparing that rate to the Replenishment Assessment rate. In their calculations, WRD is double counting the Tier I Treated rate – plus the Readiness To Serve charge into Central Basin’s calculation.

Fact:

The impacts of these fees are most likely not the same for each customer water bill, because every retail water agency’s mix of water supplies are different.  So, back to the question of “How Much Water Do You Get For a Penny?”   For every 100 gallons of water purchased from Central Basin, the cost is 2.7 cents – an amount that is nearly tripled by WRD.

Central Basin’s charges on water: The cost to the resident’s retail agency is 2.7 cents per 100 gallons.  (Based on $90 per acre-foot)

WRD’s charges on water: The cost to the resident’s retail agency is 7.4 cents per 100 gallons. (Based on $244 per acre-foot)

MWD’s charges on water: The cost to the resident’s retail water agency is 19.1 cents per 100 gallons.  (Based on $623 per acre-foot, this MWD’s new untreated Tier I rate ($593) plus the Readiness To Serve charge of $30, which will go into effect July 1, 2012)

Perplexed?  Using this so called analysis in comparing “How Much Water Do You Get For a Penny” between water agencies that sell water for different uses, is confusing and surely does not compare, let’s say – “apples to apples” here, it’s more like “aircrafts to bread”.

Ratepayers deserve more! Click here to demand the truth, not fiction.

San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Clean, safe water should be affordable and accessible to all citizens, not just the wealthy.

Central Basin Municipal Water District is proud of the fact we provide the most affordable water in the region. However, in these challenging economic times, our Board of Directors recognized we needed to do more to support the people of our community.

To help alleviate the burden of the rising cost of water on the people of southeast Los Angeles County, the Central Basin Board is announcing a Pledge to Freeze Water Rates for at least one year.

Moreover, we are challenging all other water agencies in the region to do the same.

In the words of one Bell resident from who came to us seeking help with her $700 water bill from the Golden State Water Company: “Enough is enough!”

We are tired of so-called political “water wars” that historically pit communities and agencies against each other in a fight for control over a vital public resource.

Central Basin will continue to protect and preserve our limited and precious water supplies for the public use. We will not stand aside and have this public resource monopolized, politicized or privatized in any way. Water must be accessible and affordable to all people.

We will fight, but only for the public’s interest, not for the pocketbooks of special interests. While we are tired of political “water wars” shaping the public debate, we believe firmly that access to such a natural resource like water is a civil-rights issue. The cost of water is a social justice issue that we as Californians can no longer afford to ignore and it is an issue worth fighting for.

The economically disadvantaged and historically underserved populations of southeast Los Angeles County have gotten the short end of the water pipe for long enough.

Central Basin prides itself on representing the people of the community and as such, we are committed to standing and fighting for them. In the past few years, this commitment has taken many forms.

We have gone to court to fight for justice on behalf of ratepayers by holding other water agencies accountable; we have supported legislation that would bring equity to current water rates and limit the ability of agencies like the Water Replenishment District to force southeast L.A. ratepayers to pay more for water than they should, in order to keep rates low for the wealthy communities of the South Bay.

In September, when a deeply distraught group of residents from Bell took sick days from their jobs to come to our offices in a desperate search for answers; we did everything we could to help them while not overstepping our limitations as the regional water wholesaler.

As a result of other, similar public outcries from across the state, the responsible retailer, Golden State Water Company, was fined $1 million by the California Public Utilities Commission for questionable rate setting practices.

But how have we gotten to a point where residents are being forced to decide between paying for water and buying food for their families? This question remains unanswered.

In an effort to address this, Last month, the Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC) approved Assemblyman Ricardo Lara’s request for an audit of the water agencies in southeast L.A. County. As we informed the JLAC members that day, we intend to cooperate fully with any legitimate effort to explain the rising water rates of the southeast county and support this audit.

However, while we are respectful of the legislative process, we also know that these state audits take time and we do not think the ratepayers should have to wait several months before they begin to see rate relief.

This is why the Central Basin Board of Directors is proposing a rate freeze for at least one year and we call on Metropolitan Water District, the Water Replenishment District, West Basin Municipal Water District and all local retailers to do the same.

Developing a budget that will allow us to freeze our rates has not been easy, but we got it done. To achieve this, we have reviewed every expense with a fine-tooth comb twice over. We also had to make some tough decisions to suspend, eliminate or cutback vital conservation and community programs. We hope that the affected residents, schools and program partners will understand. We were also able to begin enacting an aggressive plan to increase recycled water sales and boost revenues in the next fiscal year.

While we are still forced to pass through the rates from Metropolitan Water District, the ratepayers of our service area can rest assured that Central Basin has not increased our portion of the rate by one penny.

To the wholesale water agencies who claim that our rates somehow drive theirs; our pledge should enable them to minimize, decrease or freeze their prices also.

We implore Metropolitan Water District to take the same hard look we did at our expenses and rescind the rate increases it approved this week and freeze rates at their current level.

Water is the most vital part of every person’s quality of life. Affordable access to water should not be awarded to the highest bidder and should not be treated like a game piece in a political war.

Central Basin challenges the Metropolitan Water District, the Water Replenishment District and West Basin Municipal Water District and others to take this stand with us for the people’s right to equal access and affordable water.

Art Aguilar is general manager of the Central Basin Municipal Water District.

Read more: Op-ed: Stop the political water wars – Whittier Daily News http://www.whittierdailynews.com/opinions/ci_20424780/op-ed-stop-political-water-wars#ixzz1sPzaUxYf

The City of Bell Gardens  secured their goal in becoming the First California Friendly City through a grant

The first half of the soccer field is complete....looking good!

provided by Central Basin and Metropolitan Water Districts to include installation of nearly 25,000 square feet of California Friendly Landscaping in public garden areas and installation of water saving devices at public facilities.

Last summer, the city was proud to celebrate a ribbon cutting ceremony for Phase I of the new synthetic turf soccer field located at John Anson Ford Park.  But the city hit a major bump in the road when they discovered that they needed to raise an overwhelming amount of additional funding in order to complete the project.

After months of fundraising, and thanks to the generosity of several partners, Bell Gardens has finally reached their goal of raising a whopping $761,000!  Central Basin is proud to continue supporting this innovative project that will transform the John Anson Ford Park. 

Say goodbye to brown patches! Renovations for a "greener" soccer field are on the way!

Bell Gardens will continue to serve as a model city for conservation throughout the state. Way to go Bell Gardens! To learn more about the California Friendly City Program, click here.

At Central Basin  we work hard to protect and preserve water water as a vital public resource. Check out the various projects and programs we implement to achieve this goal and bring quality, affordable water to the people of southeast L.A.

We commend the EPA for their leadership in administering the Clean Water Act since 1972. Here’s to many more years to protecting our nation’s water!

Not only is our region facing climate change, we’re also experiencing population increase, reductions in water supply and regulatory requirements, which have made water from the northern California Delta less reliable.

Since February 2011, Central Basin has been working closely with stakeholders on a draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) of the Central Groundwater Basin to preserve and protect a vast amount of water supply for the region and knowing true conditions of the Basin will help to understand issues that may threaten its health.  Working together towards development of a groundwater storage plan is one of the most cost effective ways to preserve and ensure safe and reliable water supply for years to come.

The “2012 Water Is Life Calendar” will prominently feature Anna’s winning artwork from the “Water Is Life Poster Contest” during the month of January.  The calendar highlights artwork from selected poster contest winners throughout Southern California.  

Central Basin, in partnership with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California sponsored the poster contest this year for students in grades 4-8. The annual contest challenges students to creatively depict various water-wise uses at home or school. The entire Traveling Art Exhibit, featuring all contest winners throughout Southern California, will be on display at Central Basin Headquarters in May of 2012.

The Water Cooler was blogging about this issue recently when we posted a recent L.A. Times article that explained how energy costs are so important to water costs.

At Central Basin, we get about 65% percent of our water from local sources and the rest comes from either the Colorado River Aqueduct or from the State Water Project in Northern California. To know what power costs are going to be, helps us and others to maintain water rate stability in the coming years. Congratulations to our friends at Metropolitan Water District and our Congressional delegation for their diligent efforts in getting this important legislation passed!

The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) held its fall conference and one of the big topics is paying for new water infrastructure in the state.

As we blogged last week, the water infrastructure in much of California is starting to get a bit old and needs to be replaced.  We were hoping that Congress would pass some infrastructure spending as part of a stimulus bill, but so far it hasn’t. The ACWA meeting attracted about 1,700 water officials from around the state. We learned how California voters are feeling right now about public works spending in today’s tough economy when Mark DiCamillo of the Field Research Corporation shared the results of an opinion poll done on the California economy.

As we pointed out last week and in the past, we think that public works spending makes a lot of sense, in fact dollars and sense. Phase 1 of the Southeast Water Reliability Project (SWRP) took a $5.6 million dollar federal grant and turned it into 300 jobs – that means $18 million to the local economy.

On the water front, discussions centered on “The Value of Water” highlighted results of public perceptions and the actual value that people receive for their water.  Additionally, members of the Delta Stewardship Council (DSC) shared a presentation titled “Demystifying the Delta Plan”. Discussions also included viewpoints from members of the Environmental Water Caucus and leaders of the Ag-Urban Coalition sharing input on the critical topic of co-equal goals of the Delta plan.  The comment period of DSCs draft EIR ends on February 2, 2012.

With several interesting discussions on topics centered on key water issues, the conference concluded with a look at California Forward’s proposal to encourage cooperation among local governments to produce improved results on government services. Read more here on the Smart Government Framework.