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Politics & Government

Disparity in Water Rate Increases Has Los Altos City Council Demanding Answers

Rates for North Santa Clara County customers are expected to increase by 9.4 percent next year, compared with only 3.6 percent for South County.

The Los Altos City Council says the Santa Clara Valley Water District has some explaining to do.

Water rates are likely to go up for residents in North Santa Clara County by 9.4 percent next year, while residents in the South County will see only a 3.6 percent increase.

“North County users already pay nearly twice as much per acre-foot as south county users, and in five years, we’ll pay 2½ times as much,” Mayor Pro Tem Val Carpenter told the council Tuesday night.

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Council members said they want answers from the Santa Clara Valley Water District by the April 26 council meeting. But by then, the district’s board of directors is expected to have already decided the proposed increases at its own meeting, earlier that same day. 

Next year’s rate increase will mean the average North County household—residents living in an area from South San Jose north to Palo Alto—will pay $1.69 more per month, according to Darin Taylor, district senior project manager. South County households—including Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy—will pay only 34 cents more per month.

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He said the district's rate increases, once approved, would be passed on to area water companies, which would then pass on the increase to property owners. Los Altos and parts of Los Altos Hills are served by California Water Service Company, while another area of Los Altos Hills is served by Purissima Hills Water District.

In some cases, water companies could raise rates even higher, depending on their situations, Taylor added.

The district’s vote will affect next year’s water rates only, but the district projects rate increases of slightly more than 9 percent every year for five years for North County, with increases of just a little more than 3 percent every year for South County.

“I am confident we all want reliable, clean water … but I am troubled by the projected rate increases of 57.7 percent over the next five years,” in the North County, Carpenter told the council.

Why the disparity between the north and south?

According to Carpenter, one reason given by water district staff is that the North County increase is “driven by the need to offset revenue shortfalls due to reduced water usage beyond what was anticipated.” 

Translated into plain English, it appears this means that those customers reduced their water usage more than what was expected and had lower water bills; therefore, they have to pay more to make up for the water they conserved.

“In other words, North County users who reduced their water usage are being punished for doing so with a rate increase," Carpenter wrote in a letter of protest to the Santa Clara Valley Water Commission, where she is the Los Altos representative.

"This makes no sense; reductions in water usage should be rewarded, not punished.”

The disparity may also have to do with the usage of water treatment plants in North County, as opposed to ground water usage in South County, Carpenter said Tuesday night.

The water district's Taylor confirmed in an interview on Wednesday that there is a difference in how water is supplied in the two areas, which are actually two distinct water basins.

North County is more densely populated—1.7 million people as opposed to 100,000 in the south—and requires much more imported water. In addition, years ago, the board decided to invest in three water treatment plants in North County, as opposed to more ground water basins and reservoirs. 

"When you calculate the cost of that system in the North County, there is a higher cost to service per acre-foot of water," Taylor said.

He said the groundwater system used in the South County is much simpler, requiring much less treatment, and is, therefore, much less expensive.

In the letter Carpenter shared with council members on Tuesday night, she called the rate increases “unacceptable.” She also complained that the two-week public comment period, which opened Tuesday and ends when the district board votes on April 26, is too short and should be extended so city councils can discuss the issue and communicate their positions to the water board.

Carpenter said she was the lone dissenting vote among representatives from other cities at the April 6 water commission meeting when the increases were presented.

She encouraged residents to join her in protesting the rate increases by sending a letter to the water district board of directors.

Said Carpenter, “My letter is ready to go.”

To write a letter of protest: 

Letters signed by property owners should be sent to the Clerk of the Board, Santa Clara Valley Water District, 5750 Almaden Expressway, San Jose, 95118-3686, according to the district’s protest procedures. The outside of the letter should include the owner’s address and property tax parcel number. It must arrive before the April 26 board meeting.

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