Southern Calif. District Reduces Water Supply, Hikes Rates

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Effective July 1, the board of directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California reduced supplies its member public agencies for the first time since 1991. The financial impacts of higher Delta costs due to supply reductions caused by new regulatory restraints also were primary factors behind a rate increase approved by the board in a separate action. The rate increase will take effect Sept. 1. "Up to 19 million Southern Californians this summer will feel the impact of a new water reality that has been in the making for years, if not decades," said Metropolitan board Chair Timothy F. Brick.

Effective July 1, the board of directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California reduced supplies its member public agencies for the first time since 1991.

The financial impacts of higher Delta costs due to supply reductions caused by new regulatory restraints also were primary factors behind a rate increase approved by the board in a separate action. The rate increase will take effect Sept. 1.

"Up to 19 million Southern Californians this summer will feel the impact of a new water reality that has been in the making for years, if not decades," said Metropolitan board Chair Timothy F. Brick.

In its rate action, the board approved an 8.8 percent increase in the district’s base wholesale water rate plus a $69-per-acre-foot Delta surcharge. The surcharge reflects the district’s costs in dealing with the loss of State Water Project supplies due to the environmental collapse of the Delta, said Metropolitan General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger.

"The supply losses caused by that collapse have required us to purchase expensive replacement supplies, accelerate funding of alternative water supply programs, and finance Delta sustainability projects, including the protection of endangered species," he explained.

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The effect of the rate adjustment and Delta surcharge on Southland consumers will depend on how much imported water is purchased by the local water agency to augment supplies, such as groundwater and recycled supplies.

Kightlinger said the tight water supply situation has had a cumulative, region-wide effect.

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