Water district raises rates

Deirdre Newman

Residents can expect to pay $1.44 more a month on their water bills

after the Mesa Consolidated Water District approved a 6% rate

increase.

The board unanimously approved the rate hike, which will start

Tuesday.

The reason for the hike is simple -- water costs have increased,

board President Jim Atkinson said.

“A few years ago, we rearranged our billing structure so that we

could identify those water supply costs and let people know when

those costs increased and then pass that cost along,” Atkinson said.

The district is facing a double whammy of increased costs.

One is the result of a decision by the Orange County Water

District that reduced the amount of water the Mesa district could

pump out of the groundwater basin. The district can only pump 66%,

compared to 75% in the past. At the same time, the county district

raised the rate for the water the Mesa district can pump, Atkinson

said.

The Metropolitan Water District has also raised its rates for the

imported water the Mesa district has to buy, Atkinson added.

The 6% increase comes on the heels of an 11% rate hike last fall.

Atkinson said the 11% increase should have been instituted a year and

a half to two years sooner.

“We held off on raising the rates a while because we were hoping

we would see some improved conditions on the basin,” Atkinson said.

“Plus, we were hoping that the [new] colored water treatment facility

coming on line would help us control the costs a little more.”

Atkinson praised the district staff for maintaining the general

and administrative costs at or below previous years’ costs.

In addition to approving the rate increase Tuesday, the Mesa board

saved $12,000 from its budget by removing $5,000 for a workshop

facilitator and $7,000 for chair upholstery, said Coleen Scarminach,

district administrative services manager.

Atkinson said he expects there will be more increases in water

costs.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.