Media Corner

EGP News
December 10, 2009

Central Basin Moves Ahead With Recycled Water Pipe Plans

Water agency plans on tapping 'stimulus funds' for 'shovel ready projects.'

By Elizabeth Hsing-Huei Chou, EGP Staff Writer

A recycled water system in the southeast Los Angeles area would lower the region's dependence on imported water by as much as 25 percent. That is good news during a water crisis, according to water district officials.

But it is also expensive to complete such a project and will result in water users' rates going up over time -- something critics claim is not good news during an economic crisis.

But despite the Central Basin Municipal Water District's latest attempt to address concerns over a rate increase to fund a pipeline from Pico Rivera to Vernon that would complete a looped recycled water system, local city officials and water rate-payers say they are still not satisfied.

A $25 per acre-foot "infrastructure surcharge" first proposed to fund the project in June was immediately met by protests and claims that the rate increase would put an unnecessary burden on cash-strapped water users.

So the Central Basin board tabled the increase, returning to it at a Dec. 1 meeting where they voted 4-1 to delay the rate increase until July 2013, thinking the decision would address earlier concerns.

Instead, officials critical of the Central Basin say water users have been stuck with an even bigger bill, a $45 million bond issue to fund the project.

The delay in the rate increase would add $15 million in interest to the cost of the project, according to Jim Glancy, Technical Chairman of the Southeast Cities Water Coalition. "The Board approved plan is to pay interest only until 2022," he said, rather than first ensuring the project has enough users to pay for it.

Central Basin spokesperson Valerie Howard says the additional cost is more like $7 million. "This is the most expensive option for the district, when it came to financing, but the rate is delayed as far as it could be pushed back for the project," she said, adding, "It was [the board's] intention to lighten the financial burden for rate-payers who had voiced concerns."

Rate-payers, which include water companies and some cities that buy water from Central Basin, would be charged an additional $20 per acre-foot starting July 1, 2013. Another increase of $10 per acre-foot is scheduled for July 1, 2022.

"By delaying it for several years, our cities and retailers will have the time they need to incorporate it into their annual budgets," says Central Basin General Manager Art Aguilar.

Although the delay allows rate-payers to not have to worry about an increase for another 3