South Bay water users will be paying more for water after the Sweetwater Authority last week approved a 5 percent across-the-board rate increase.
The fixed increase applies to the water agency’s 184,000 customers in Bonita, National City and the western and central portions of Chula Vista.
The Sweetwater Authority board approved the increase with a 4 to 3 vote.
Under the old payment structure, Bonita households typically had higher water bills because they use the most water, said board director and National City Mayor Ron Morrison, while customers in National City and Chula Vista paid less because they used less water through their conservation efforts.
But the new rate means most customers will pay the same amount regardless of their water-saving habits.
Morrison voted against the rate increase because he said it wouldn’t be fair for the lowest water users in both Chula
Vista and National City to get stuck with a rate increase when they are conserving water.
“What we ended up doing is we’re going to greatly raise the water bills for western Chula Vista and National City and lower them for Bonita,” he said. “That’s the reason I could not vote for this. It’s terribly unfair and it’s very anti-conservation.
“When we should be trying to conserve water, we’re basically telling people now it doesn’t matter how much you conserve we’re going to raise your rates a lot. And if you use a lot more water, your bill won’t even go up. And I have a problem with that,” Morrison said.
Morrison said the lower water users in the first tier average about 10 hundred cubic feet of water per month and will see their rate increase approximately from $2.80 to $3.86.
Consumers who use a higher volume will see a reduction on their bill from $8.24 to $6.90 under the new plan.
South Bay Irrigation District board member Steve Castaneda voted for the increase because he said Sweetwater Authority needs to offset the costs of buying more water from the county since Sweetwater Authority’s reservoir is nearly depleted.
Castaneda also supported the increase because it would bring in some revenue to help fund necessary capital improvement projects.
“Five percent is significant,” he said. “But it’s not as high as other (water) districts.
The South Bay Irrigation District is under the same umbrella as the Sweetwater Authority and oversees water usage in western Chula Vista.
Ever since Gov. Jerry Brown issued a conservation mandate for water agencies across the state, the Sweetwater Authority has nearly met or surpassed its 12 percent goal, leaving the South Bay’s largest water district without a true source of revenue.
The new rates were effective Sept. 1 and are to bring in an additional 5 percent in revenues and will exceed $51.1 million to fund operating and capital expenses such as the expansion of a groundwater desalination facility and the replacement of aging water distribution pipelines.
