Lake Elsinore: Water district boosts rates despite opposition

From the North County Times:

Residents in the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District who lavish water on their properties will face stiff monthly charges under a revised rate structure and price increases adopted by the district’s board Thursday.

While nearly all of the district’s customers will see some sort of an increase when they receive their bills for July around the beginning of August, those who use water indiscriminately will pay much more than they have been.

Directors said they had no choice but to charge customers more as a result of the much greater costs the district is encountering in buying water. “We’re trying to manage this water district so it doesn’t go into bankruptcy,” Director John Lloyd said. “If we don’t figure out a way to absorb these rate increases (in the water the district buys), we’re going to go into bankruptcy.”

At the same time, the directors emphasized that the district has been mandated by the agency from which it buys water —- Western Municipal Water District —- to cut back its water distribution 10 percent or face draconian price penalties. Hence, district administrators came up with a five-tier rate structure that rewards customers who conserve and have moderate water use while punishing those who waste water with sharply higher rates.

“We live in a desert; we’re in a drought,” said Director Harvey Ryan, who listened in on the meeting from Massachusetts through a conference call. “Water is a commodity that’s going to be as precious as oil.”

Read more from the North County Times by clicking here.

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