LeakBird

(Feb. 28, 2009, The Water Blog, Portland Water Bureau)
Dear Water Blogmistress,

I am writing because I need advice in regards to a tap-related dilemma I’m having. I love Portland’s tap water so, so, so much and I find fellow tap-water enthusiasts… well, I’ll just say it… they’re hot. People who drink and love Portland’s tap water are hot! They [...]

 
I came across a fascinating and informative document on a recent meeting between some associates from the University of Washington and the Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) regarding water rates and billing in Seattle.
The document’s notes cover a wide gamut, but basically I learned seven things that I think any landlord or property manager in Seattle [...]

(Feb. 24, 2009, MSNBC)
Water and sewer customers can expect to see higher rates in March.
City commissioners adopted a new rate structure that could raise the average customer’s bill $5.46 a month.
Customers who live outside the city limits will be charged 25 percent higher rates, meter fees, deposits and connection fees.
City Manager Billy Poe said the [...]

(Feb. 25, 2009, CleanTech)
Leaders at the Cleantech Forum in San Francisco today said the days of cheap water are over.
The developing world is still struggling to provide usable water to its residents, while water shortages in the developed world have put a new focus on expensive technologies.
“Water has never been priced properly, but [...]

(Feb. 20, 2009, The Kansas City Star)
KC’s Water Services Department is discussing the possibility of up to 90 layoffs, Mayor Mark Funkhouser’s budget SWAT team heard Friday.
At the same meeting, the budget panel proposed asking the department to chip in $4 million to help the city get through its budget crisis.
If the City Council approves [...]

(Feb. 18, 2009, The Dallas Morning News)

Plano water and sewer customers should expect rates to rise by an average of 16 percent starting next month.
The increases, the fifth round of hikes since spring 2006, will help pay for more expensive treatment, pumping and expansion costs in [...]

(Feb. 20, 2009, IndyStar)
Indianapolis-area water users could see a 17.5 percent increase in their bills this summer after the Department of Waterworks board on Thursday voted unanimously to seek an emergency rate increase.
For the average household using 7,000 gallons of water a month, the measure would mean an increase of about $4.50 in the monthly [...]

(Feb. 19, 2009, Aguanomics)
Throughout this blog, I have advocated all-in-auctions for allocation of water among rights’ holders at the wholesale level (e.g., among farmers in an irrigation district, urban water agencies that buy from a wholesaler, or between sectors — ag, urban and environment) and conservation pricing for homeowners at the retail level (i.e., every [...]

(Feb. 18, 2009, The Water Blog, Portland Water Bureau)
Residents of Horse Creek Valley, South Carolina may soon get hit with a whopping 700 percent bill increase.
Yes, you read that right, 700 percent.
The 616 residential water customers currently pay a basic $3 water fee at a usage rate of 51 cents per 1,000 gallons. The proposed increase would set [...]

(Feb. 18, 2009, Steve Gorman, Reuters)
With a recent flurry of winter storms doing little to dampen California’s latest drought, the nation’s biggest public utility voted on Tuesday to impose water rationing in Los Angeles for the first time in nearly two decades.
Under the plan adopted in principle by the governing board of the L.A. Department [...]

(Feb. 18, 2009, Reuters)
Householders in England and Wales will face above-inflation increases in water bills this year, water regulator Ofwat said on Wednesday.
The regulator will allow water companies to impose average rises in household water and sewerage prices in 2009/10 of 1.1 per cent plus inflation at 3 per cent, it said in a statement.
The [...]

(Feb. 17, 2009, AZCentral)
Cave Creek will hear comments Tuesday night on a proposed water-rate hike that could double the average user’s bill and tack on an extra $37 in service charges.
Under the new rates, an average customer’s bill could soar to $77 from $40.
Current residential rates per 1,000 gallons are $2.46 for customers in Cave [...]

(Feb. 16, 2009, MyFoxAtlanta)

ATLANTA – Angry water customers filled a state house room to air their complaints about extremely high water bills in the city of Atlanta. And Georgia lawmakers say they may take action to cap water rates in certain circumstances.
(Original Article Here)

(Nov. 18, 2008, PerthNow)

HOUSEHOLDERS would be charged for each flush under a radical new toilet tax designed to help beat the drought.
The scheme would replace the current system, which sees sewage charges based on a home’s value – not its waste water output.
CSIRO Policy and Economic Research Unit member Jim McColl and Adelaide University Water [...]

(Feb. 15, 2009, The Seattle PI)

The Seattle City Council is expected Tuesday to approve a surcharge on city water customers to help cover the cost of a $22 million court-ordered rebate to water customers.
The rebates are for fire hydrant costs that were wrongly charged to water customers. Fire hydrants are a basic city responsibility and [...]

(Feb. 13, 2009, The Los Angeles Times)

On Monday, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa proposed accelerated water restrictions for Los Angeles — and the city got about a third of an inch of rain. In the past, showers were considered bad luck for a conservation push, but these days they are a fitting backdrop. We may get a [...]

(Feb. 10, 2009, MSNBC)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It is because Mecklenburg County residents conserved water during the area’s most decent drought that they may pay more for it if they find themselves in the same situation in the future.Charlotte’s city council heard a recommendation Monday night from Charlotte Mecklenburg Utilities for a drought surcharge—a fee assessed [...]

(Feb. 11, 2009, The Times West Virginian)
FAIRMONT — City council members voted unanimously to pass a 49 percent water-rate increase during Tuesday’s meeting.
Although the council members voted to increase the rate, Fairmont water customers can appeal the decision to the state Public Service Commission.
And Mannington Mayor Frank White, one of the three people who attended [...]

(Feb. 10, 2009, The Los Angeles Times)
Even with the recent batch of rainstorms, the ongoing drought has grown so severe that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Monday called for increased citywide water restrictions and the adoption of a tiered water rate that would punish Department of Water and Power customers who fail to conserve.
Sprinkler [...]

(Feb. 7, 2009, BND.com)
Q: I find it amusing how everyone is so excited about the cost of gas for their cars when it goes up a few cents, but don’t seem to care much about rising home water costs. I pulled some old bills recently and I’m now paying more than double what I did [...]

(Feb. 5, 2009, MSNBC)
Nashville Mayor Karl Dean will present a plan Thursday to the Metro Council that will include an increase for water rates.
With the recession taking hold of the country and more people on a tighter budget, some Metro water customers are fearful that they could see an increase in their bills.
Resident Debbie Martin [...]

(Feb. 4, 2009, The Mercury News)

Customers of the East Bay’s largest water district are facing the likelihood of rate increases higher than the 4 percent forecast nearly two years ago.
The decline in housing construction and a slide in revenues due to more efficient water use among East Bay Municipal Utility District customers are some of [...]

(Feb. 3, 2009, Ventura River Ecosystem)
According to an article in the Ojai Valley News, the current drought and new water pricing is creating tension between water agencies and farmers. When wells run dry, growers have become accustomed to subsidized water imported from Lake Casitas. But with rate increases intended to cover the true cost of [...]

(Feb. 4, 2009, Aguanomics)
“The [Napa, California city] council unanimously approved paying Yountville $3.45 million for the permanent rights to 1,100 acre feet from the vast State Water Project. The city, which uses about 15,500 acre feet annually, already has rights to 20,800 acre feet each year.”
This price for permanent water rights is equal to an [...]

(Feb. 4, 2009, Orlando Sentinel)
ORANGE COUNTY
Residents of the Wedgefield Golf & Equestrian Community, a 1,500-home planned development, are facing their first week of paying about 83 percent more for water. Rob Goderis, president of Wedgefield’s homeowners association, said: “We’re not real happy with it. That’s a big jump.” The east Orange community near Christmas gets [...]

(Feb. 4, 2009, Florida Today)
WEST MELBOURNE — Developers will pay four times as much to join West Melbourne’s water system and almost 1½ times more for sewer connections.
Fees for all new water and sewer hookups will go into effect in 90 days, under the plan the West Melbourne City Council approved Tuesday night by a [...]

(Feb. 3, 2009, News & Observer)
The Raleigh City Council will receive a report today that recommends creating a three-tier rate structure for residential water customers.
Under the proposal, which is preliminary and likely to be refined, customers would be charged 60 percent less than the current flat rate for the first 3,000 gallons of water. Raleigh [...]

(Feb. 2, 2009, LoHud News)
Peaceable Hill homeowners vehemently protesting an “outrageous” increase in their water bills may have found some relief from the town.
More than a dozen residents showed up at a Town Board meeting last week to vent their frustrations about a $167 spike in their quarterly water bills, arguing many people may have [...]

(Jan. 30, 2009, The Los Angeles Times)

Reporting from Mexico City — Already-scarce water gets even scarcer this weekend for millions of Mexicans.
One of the world’s largest cities is launching a rationing plan in a drastic — and some say overdue — effort to conserve water after rampant development, mismanagement and reduced rainfall caused supplies [...]

(Jan. 30, 2009, The Orlando Sentinel)
Armed with a judge’s OK, Seminole County says it will soon begin pumping millions of gallons of water per day from the St. Johns River. It’s a smart move from the County Commission’s perspective, as it will provide an abundant source of “cheap” water for future growth while generating revenue [...]

(Jan. 29, 2009, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Atlanta does not have a problem with its water billing, it has customers who don’t pay its bills.

In fact, the city is “doing a wonderful job” dealing with its 1.2 million customers.

Those were the highlights from Rob Hunter, commissioner of Atlanta’s Watershed Management Department, during a 45-minute session with the [...]

(Jan. 27, 2009, The OC Register)
Residents will pay more for every shower they take and every dish they wash starting next month.
On Tuesday night, the City Council voted to approve raising water rates by 20 percent next month. Several council members said they reluctantly supported the raises, and did so only because of the rising [...]

(Jan. 27, 2009, MSNBC)
The warnings have been coming in dribs and drabs. Now they’re like a torrent — both locally and statewide.
Water is not to be wasted.
Save it.
Period.
Our water wizards say this three-year drought cycle we’re in has left California as parched as it was back in the mid- ’70s — when odd-even rationing and [...]

We’ve been watching water rates jump here and there, 5%, 10%, sometimes 20% or 30%, all across the nation for the last year. But shocking news was delivered today that San Diego customers may soon have a 200% to 400% water rate increase on their hands!
There’s some SERIOUS groundwork (or groundwater-work) for water rationing, followed [...]

(Jan. 25, 2009, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
While metro Atlanta water departments push —- and pay —- for conservation, their revenue continues to evaporate. And water-wise consumers are paying a premium.
In response to the drought and continuing water restrictions imposed by the state, Gwinnett County residents and businesses cut water use by 17.2 percent last year, a decline [...]

(Jan. 22, 2009, Rome News-Tribune)
Small businesses appear to be reacting with more concern than larger businesses to increases in the rates the city charges for “fire line services” on water bills.
For some, those bills have risen from double digits to triple digits. For a 6-inch water line — the most common diameter — the [...]

(Jan. 22, 2009, Franklin Park Herald-Journal)
As Chicago increases water rates to municipalities by 15 percent, Franklin Park residents will see a 7.5 percent increase in their water bills.
Franklin Park receives its water from Chicago, which in 2007 approved increasing water charges 15 percent in 2008, 15 percent in 2009 and 14 percent in 2010.
For Franklin [...]

(Jan. 22, 2009, Napa Valley Register)
American Canyon may spend up to $400,000 to buy extra water to meet its needs, the city council decided Tuesday.
In addition to buying 1,300 acre-feet of State Water Project supplies, AmCan officials will soon initiate stepped-up conservation measures to reduce current water use by 20 percent.
American Canyon needs to be [...]

(Jan. 21, 2009, Frank R. Rijsberman, AlterNet)

So, is the planet drying up? Not exactly, but a growing number of people are sharing a fixed amount of water that is badly managed and polluted.
Sri Lanka’s celebrated twelfth-century king Parakramabahu reportedly said, “not a single drop of water received from rain should be allowed to [...]

(Photo Courtesy of Collectors-Badges.com)
Aguanomics water virtuoso David Zetland recently did a 26-minute interview with Bloomberg Radio that’s well worth listening to. Among a myriad of thoughtful points, one caught my attention in particular: The costliness of water rationing.
Zetland was referring to a tack Santa Barbara took in the 80’s during another big California drought, whereby [...]

(Jan. 19, 2009, Aguanomics)
A few months back, I blasted East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) for their badly-designed water conservation scheme. Last week, I got my water bill for the past two months, and now I see that I was too kind.
EBMUD is really NOT doing a good job at handing the water shortage.
Here [...]

(Jan. 15, 2009, The OC Register)
California has a drinking problem: It’s running low on water.
At a meeting today of south Orange County mayors, Rancho Santa Margarita Mayor Gary Thompson told attendees that despite the budget problems in Sacramento, the drought has to be a priority for local officials and residents.
“I think a lot of people are [...]

(Jan. 18, 2009, The Plain Dealer)
If you live in a suburb and can’t get answers about your sky-high Cleveland water bill, you might want to look to your local city hall for help.
That’s what Solon and Twinsburg residents did with unresolved complaints they made to the Cleveland Division of Water, which supplies water to [...]

(Jan. 17, 2009, ENS)
Eight water conservation and control projects along China’s longest river, the Yangtze, will be underway by 2011 to improve water use and protect the environment, a water conservation official said Tuesday.
Cai Qihua, director of the Yangtze Water Resources Commission, announced the projects during the commission’s annual work meeting in Wuhan, the [...]

(Jan. 17, 2009, Winona Daily News)
Water rates in the village of Trempealeau, Wis., could increase by 199 percent to fund water-quality improvement projects expected to cost between $2.6 and $3.2 million, said Village Administrator Travis Cooke.
The village board held a public meeting Wednesday about the increase, though no residents attended.
The village has been unable to [...]

(Jan. 17, 2009, North County Times)
Despite protests by residents and farmers, water rates in Escondido will rise sharply Feb. 1 for residential customers who use more than 7,000 gallons per month and for virtually all agricultural customers.
City water officials say the increases are necessary to encourage conservation during the state’s worsening drought.
They say the increases [...]

(Jan. 17, 2009, AccessNorthGA)
The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners is implementing increased water and sewer rates to help offset projected revenue shortfalls.
The residential water base rate will change from $12 for the first 3,000 gallons to $12 for the first 1,000 gallons. The senior citizen account water base rate will change from $9 for [...]

(Jan. 16, 2009, Aguanomics)
David Zetland, an agricultural and resource economist at the University of California, Berkeley, talks with Bloomberg’s Tom Keene about the economics of bottled and tap water, conservation, and global water supply and management.
The 26 minute interview [.mp3] is — in my not-humble opinion — pretty damn good.
In it, Keene and I [...]

(Jan. 15, 2009, Crossroads Arabia)
Government subsidies, as most things in life, have a good side and a bad side. On the positive, subsidies can keep the price of important commodities within economic reach of the poorest citizens. On the down side, they can so undervalue a commodity that it is abused. That appears to be [...]

(Jan. 16, 2009, Crescenta Valley Sun)
New water conservation ordinances passed this week by the Crescenta Valley Water Board will go into effect in May for water district customers, according to Christy Scott, program specialist for Crescenta Valley Water District.
The new regulations come on the heels of the district’s vote last month to once again increase [...]