Over the past decade, the water districts around California have enacted conservation policies beneficial to our environment as well as our pocket books. In light of the economy, however, these same districts have had budget problems and thus had to adjust their revenue and spending. In this tough economic climate, water districts will no doubt have to raise their rates and cut their staff and programs; but in doing so, I have some suggestions.

Let’s take my local water district, the Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD), as an example. The Marin Independent Journal recently reported that MMWD’s position is that the recent budget problems can be partly attributed to consumer’s conserving, and thus paying smaller water bills. If this is the case, we should celebrate the constituent’s choice to conserve and look for other ways to fix the budget. No one likes to see his or her monthly bills increased, but the rate structure can be revamped to continue MMWDs tradition of prioritizing conservation.

I would like to suggest a restructuring of the rate system, to bring in more revenue. I will only suggest changes to the December through May rate structure as we’re approaching that time. The hope is that suggested changes could translate to the June through November structure. First off, I suggest changing the first tier to 0-20ccf, the second tier to 21-40ccf, the third to 41- 60ccf, the fourth to 61-80ccf, and the fifth to replace the fourth at 81ccf and over. (ccf=hundred cubic feet). I would then suggest a rate increase in the third, fourth and newly created fifth tiers. This would urge ratepayers to get below the 40ccf mark on a monthly basis. It would raise additional revenue while actually increasing incentive to conserve. No matter where one lives, their water district will probably have a similar rate structure and can enact similar reform that will raise revenue while offering additional incentives to conserve, rather then having to cut successful programs.

All water districts should conduct comprehensive reviews of their budgets, line by line, to make sure that all programs that are effective are well funded and that those may not be as effective are ended. This would free up additional resources to fund successful conservation measures, such as increasing the district staff to investigate leaks and crack down on the most egregious water wasters.

The recent budgetary problems show that conservation is working and that the economy is worsening. Rather than cut programs proven to be successful and raise rates on folks conserving all the water they possibly can, water districts should focus on their core missions to protect water quality and ensure water quantity. This means conservation. Around California, districts have begun to look at desalination plants as an answer to water shortages. In light of the recent budgets and the fact that folks are conserving more then ever, all resources and staff time devoted to desalination plants should be put on hold. With programs being cut, there is no room in the budget for this project’s high projected costs. The primary reason desalination is pursued is to provide a future augmentation to our water supply to increase our water security. But the budget woes have shown that the programs already in place are working successfully. If we held out on the desalination plant, we would avert the unnecessary cutting of conservation and could renew focus on repairing our aging water infrastructure. We can’t predict the future, but what we can predict is the success of conservation programs. If conservation continues to be pursued aggressively, we can get through this budget mess and any water shortages together as communities.

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I strongly urge all readers to contact their water district and share their concerns. Contact information can be found on your household’s monthly water bill or online.

The Marin Municipal Water District address is:

Marin Municipal Water District
220 Nellen Avenue
Corte Madera, CA 94925

Visit http://www.marinwater.org and http://marinwatercoalition.org for more information.