If you are a Long Beach Water Department customer, you will soon see an increase in your water bill beginning October 2009.
The Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD), which manages the groundwater basin where Long Beach pumps its water, has approved an 18.9-percent increase in its groundwater pumping rates, commonly known as “replenishment assessments,” for the next fiscal year. A 19.7-percent rate increase was approved for using imported water. These rate increases will be assessed to the Long Beach Water Department and other agencies that use groundwater or imported water.
Those two rate increases will be assessed to agencies, not residents, but agencies will likely be forced to raise the fees they charge residents due to the news. On Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 7:00 p.m., the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners will discuss revenue rates and the budget for the fiscal year of 2009-2010 in a public meeting.
“The WRD is among many throughout Southern California who will have to increase rates due to the escalating price of imported water,” said Kevin Wattier, General Manger of the Long Beach Water Department. “The increase in the pumping rate, which is a fixed cost, is something we’ve expected.”
Half of Long Beach’s water supply is groundwater, which is pumped from the Central Groundwater Basin and treated at the Long Beach Groundwater Treatment Facility. The Water Replenishment District oversees the basin’s replenishment and assesses fees to agencies that use it. Long Beach is the largest groundwater pumper in the Central Groundwater Basin.
*
Ricklyn Hukriede is a contributing news reporter and current journalism student at Long Beach City College.
Disclosure: The Long Beach Water Department is an advertiser of the lbpost.com.
Follow the lbpost.com on our Facebook, YouTube and Twitter pages.