LeakBird

(March 22, 2009, The Mercury News)

As California’s drought continues, water rationing is becoming a reality in many cities — and Antioch is no exception.
On Tuesday, the City Council will be asked to weigh in on a water shortage contingency plan to cut consumption by an estimated 25 percent — the amount by which Antioch’s water [...]

(March 19, 2009, The Los Angeles Times)
State officials announced Wednesday they will deliver more water to Southern California this year than previously predicted but cautioned that shipments will remain well below normal.
State water resources director Lester Snow said “a series of very beneficial storms in February and early March” prompted his department to increase allocations [...]

After reading today’s article in the San Diego Tribune in which the Metropolitan Water District has its drinking straws in its final water reserves and options, I’m convinced that water rationing will not be averted in Southern California (or perhaps all of California for that matter).  In other words, we can bank on water rationing, [...]

The average household US water bill varies widely from state to state and municipality to municipality.  Small town household water rates fall somewhere between $1.00 and $2.00 per 748 gallons of water or HCF (hundred cubic feet).  Large city household water rates are from $2.00 to $3.00 per 748 gallons of water.  (Nationally, water rates [...]

(March 9, 2009, DelwareOnline)
Newark City Council is expected to raise its water rates 20 percent today, after backing off a controversial plan to increase rates for out-of-town customers by 30 percent.
Council members, facing criticism from area lawmakers and a crowd of about 100 at their last meeting, agreed to a 20 percent, across-the-board increase. Instead [...]

(March 10, 2009, China Daily)
The authorities need to push ahead with a price hike, reflecting accurately the growing shortage of water in China and help plug further depletion of the resource, an official has said.
“We must set up a rational water pricing system adapted to the country’s severe shortage of water. So some cities will [...]

(March 7, 2009, The Mercury News)

Foster City residents who take their time in the shower or run the washing machine with just a few shirts inside will soon pay for their wasteful ways.
At a meeting Monday night, the Foster City City Council will consider approving a water rate structure that escalates the cost of water [...]

(March 5, 2009, Aguanomics)
…Says Harvard Professor Stavins at the Huffington Post. His op/ed continues:
Throughout the United States, water is under-priced. Efficient use of water will take place only when the price reflects the actual additional cost of making that water available. Lest one fear that higher water rates would mean that Americans would go thirsty, [...]

(March 6, 2009, The Mercury News)

Residents of a Santa Cruz Mountains hamlet have successfully argued that a 30 percent water rate hike in financially-tough times is too much.
The San Lorenzo Valley Water District got more than 1,500 written objections out of its 7,300 customers, as well as a vocal crowd at the board’s Thursday night [...]

Okay, so this number may shock you, but trust me, I didn’t make it up.  I actually did a year’s worth of research, and I haven’t heard anyone say this yet — in fact, I’d like someone to disprove it.
Here’s what I extrapolated.  I’ll preface by stating that 25% to 40% of all in-building, residential [...]

(March 4, 2009, The Times West Virginian)
The West Virginia Public Service Commission has agreed to hear an appeal in the Fairmont water-rate increase case.
A municipal appeal case was opened because the Valley Falls Public Service District and the City of Mannington protested the water rate increase, said Sarah Robertson, a spokesperson for the PSC.
The issue [...]

Yesterday I was talking to a San Francisco plumber named Jim.
“You know the real reason water rates are going up?” he asked me.
“Because the water utilities’ revenues are down in these troubled times,” I replied.
“Yes, but it’s actually deeper than that,” he said.  “We’ve gotten more water efficient.  We’re not using as much water.”
“I find [...]

(March 2, 2009, The Richmond Daily News)
Richmond’s water and sewer line systems are old, worn down and some think expensive.
Richmond Third Ward Candidate Terrie Lee Stanley addressed the Richmond City Council on Wednesday night to make a plea on behalf of residents.
Stanley said she had been contacted by 13 residents just in one day about [...]

I’ve written about how to calculate your San Francisco water bill, but I thought it might be useful to know how the SFPUC functions and just how many landlords and property managers are getting excessively high water bills due to the likes of tenants’ running toilet conditions everyday.
Back in June of 2008, I spoke with [...]

(Feb. 28, 2009, The San Bernardino Sun)
Water is one of California’s most vexing challenges.
Most of the state’s rainfall comes in Northern California and its snowpack is in the Sierra Nevada range. But most of the users are in Southern California and the Central Valley, where agriculture is the main consumer.
There are obstacles at every step [...]

(Feb. 27, 2009, Kelly Zito, The San Francisco Chronicle)
The company has a gallery in New York’s tony SoHo district; one of it’s recent releases is named “Gwyneth”; it has near-cult status among the eco-affluent (and Google).
We’re talking about a toilet here.
Specifically, the Toto toilet – a water-efficient commode made by Japanese company founded in 1917.
The [...]

(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 [...]

(Feb. 26, 2009, Bloomberg News)
On a cloudless December day in the Nevada desert, workers in white hard hats descend into a 30- foot-wide shaft next to Lake Mead.
As they’ve been doing since June, they’ll blast and dig straight down into the limestone surrounding the reservoir that supplies 90 percent of Las Vegas’s water. In September, [...]

 
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 [...]

Chris Brown wrote a post on the economics of water for the Ludwig Von Mises Institute, in which he argues that water shortages wouldn’t exist in a free market. To put it another way, with government intervention, water shortages are virtually guaranteed.  I happen to agree with Mr. Brown, however, it’s easier to acknowledge what [...]

(Feb. 23, 2009, On The Scene, Fox News)

In case you didn’t know, the Southeastern United States has been in a drought for the last several years.  The City of Atlanta was in danger of losing their water supply and many small towns in Tennessee simply ran out.  To keep the Southeast from going completely dry, [...]

(Feb. 24, 2009, Coloradoan)
Plans to ramp up water conservation efforts in Fort Collins include a couple of tried-and-true methods – education and financial incentives.
Putting those plans to work would likely mean higher rates for water customers even as average per capita demand for water decreases, officials say.
Using less water has broad impacts, including prolonging the [...]

(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. 20, 2009, BlueNC)

When the market extremists get on a binge about environmental planning, they generally argue that the markets will eventually do what regulations can’t.
The truth is, they’re right.
Given enough time, the markets would eventually create a hideously toxic environment that would kill billions of people, eliminating the need for cleaning anything up. No [...]

(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. 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, 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. 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. 14, 2009, The Houston Chronicle)
LUBBOCK, Texas — Reliable sources of clean water are the key to a successful economic future for Texas and without them the state and businesses could suffer billions in losses.
That was the dire message in a recent report from the office of state comptroller Susan Combs, a longtime West [...]

(Feb. 12, 2009, Aguanomics)
I have criticized rationing as uneconomical, and I have criticized dumb rationing as unfair, yet water managers continue to pursue it.
What do I mean by that? Cutting EVERYONE back by 20% when supply falls by 20%. That’s not only lame compared to raising prices, but it’s patently unfair to cut water wasters [...]

(Feb. 12, 2009, The Miami Herald)

South Florida, where millions of homeowners still are confined to twice-weekly lawn sprinkling, is using a lot less water these days.
The decline stems in large part from tough water restrictions that the South Florida Water Management District will consider making permanent Thursday, and a tougher economy that has emptied [...]

(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. 6, 2009, The Chronicle-Telegram)
NORTH RIDGEVILLE — Every household in town soon will be getting a WiFi-like hook-up, but it won’t be for surfing the Web.
This technology will allow computer software in City Hall to record the amount of water used in each home, apartment and business and to quickly issue an alert about detected [...]

(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. 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 [...]

(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 [...]

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. 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. 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. 10, 2009, Press of Atlantic City)
Testimony filed Friday with state utility regulators calls for the latest rate charge proposal by New Jersey American Water Co. to be rejected, saying it is akin to a “bailout fund” for the company’s management.
The Voorhees, Camden County-based water company wants to implement a so-called “distribution system improvement charge,” [...]

(Dec. 31, 2008, The Glendale News Press)
Water rates jump 12.4% today for most homeowners and commercial customers in the city — the second in a series of three controversial annual rate increases narrowly approved by the City Council in 2007.

(Dec. 31, 2008, Wassau Daily Herald)
The Colby Municipal Water Utility is seeking its first rate increase in 20 years and it’s a gushing 81 percent.
Residential customers now paying $2.73 per 1,000 gallons monthly would pay $4.94 if the application is approved as submitted Dec. 22 to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission. Residential customers also pay [...]