Consumption-based fixed rates for water usage are underway. Total “summer usage” (May 1-Oct. 31) determines the “supply charge” we pay each month of the following year. (2014 usage determines 2015 charges, etc.). “Supply charges,” which are 67 percent of our water bill, cover certain fixed costs related to water supply and treatment. In effect, because the “supply charge” is based on the hot, dry months when irrigation is at its peak, single-family homeowners will pay 40 percent more for each gallon of water they use.

As indicated above, for those who want to irrigate their lawns, trees and gardens in the summer, the “supply charge” will be higher all year. But, what if you had another irrigation source, for example, a neighborhood well, that did not flow through your water meter? Your meter would register significantly lower “summer usage,” thereby cutting your “supply charge” significantly. Would this “opting out” be fair to those Davis residents who have no alternative water source for irrigation?

Many leaders of no on P live in neighborhoods planning to opt out. Are neighborhoods that have the ability to, and choose to, go outside the system to reduce “supply charges” paying their fair share? Furthermore, the city itself already has approved an opt-out plan that uses well water for park irrigation, and there is no stipulation requiring The Cannery development to pay into the system for its irrigation uses.

If large irrigators opt out because the water from the project is too costly, the supply charges, automatically will increase for those who cannot opt out. The fixed costs of the system must be paid every year.

We need a rate structure that does not encourage opting out. The only way to guarantee that a new, fair rate structure will be adopted is to give the City Council the mandate to do so.

Vote yes on Measure P.

Dede Gunnell
Davis

Comments

comments