Council Hikes Water, Sewer Rates

The San Clemente City Council on Tuesday voted to raise water and sewer rates because of reduced sales, recent wet weather and wholesale cost hikes from the chief supplier, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

Tom Rendina, municipal services manager, said conservation among users was increasing—both through conscious conservation and natural dips in usage caused by the wet winter and the cool summer last year.

This has led to lower sales, even as MWD has hiked its prices and the cost of other inputs--like electricity and equipment--are increasing.

The trouble with providing water is that you still have to maintain the same number of pipes, reservoirs and pump stations no matter how much water customers are using.

"We've been experiencing negative operating positions for the last four years," Rendina said.

The rates for water will increase 12.6 percent, and the rates for sewer service will increase 6 percent, starting in August.

The city will hire a consultant this year to make even more drastic changes to water and sewer rates in light of conservation efforts.

Some residents were upset over the rate hike. "We're being punished for conserving water," said France Helfer. "For a one-acre parcel, our water bill will be higher per month than a commercial property's in San Clemente. Find another way."

She criticized the tiered water rate on the books in the city; those who use the most water get charged more per gallon to discourage water use.

City Manager George Scarborough said these tiers in their current form may soon be a thing of the past.

"On the rate structure, there is going to have to be a pretty aggressive and pretty open rethinking," he said.

The 4,000 households in Talega will not be affected by the rate change; they are served by the Santa Margarita Water District.