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Millbrae prepares for big increase in water rates

Posted by: Maven on August 4, 2009 at 7:12 am

From the Oakland Tribune:

“The city is heading toward a sizable residential water fee increase that will raise rates 35 percent over the next five years to meet swelling wholesale costs set by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which manages the region’s water system.

Last week, the Millbrae City Council unanimously approved the plan, which will now be subject to a public hearing. The current residential rate of $3.95 per unit, plus meter charges, hasn’t been raised in more than a year.

Whether the fee increase comes now or later, suburban households, accounting for two-thirds of water usage under the SFPUC, will not be able to escape the financial burden of the commission’s $4.3 billion water-improvement program, which includes critical seismic retrofitting of a system that crosses five fault lines to pump water from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, according to Public Works Director Ron Popp.

“We don’t have any choice,” Popp said. “We’ve done exploration with ground wells, (but) we essentially buy all our water from San Francisco.” …”

Read more from the Oakland Tribune by clicking here.

August 4, 2009 · Filed Under Bay Area

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