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Opinion of a Water Authority Board Member: City Should ‘Pause’ Phase 2 of Pure Water

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby Jim Madaffer Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The San Diego City Council is poised to decide on significant and needed water rate increases. The City Council – and ratepayers deserve the truth, not a blame game.

City staff have been quick to point the finger at the San Diego County Water Authority, while portraying the City’s multibillion-dollar Pure Water project as a cost-saving alternative. That narrative may make for convenient headlines, but it misrepresents the facts and risks misleading ratepayers about the true drivers of their bills.

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Environment Report: San Diego ‘Better Have My Money’

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby MacKenzie Elmer Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority
Quoted: Dan Denham

The San Diego City Council’s debate over whether to raise water rates on 1.4 million people Tuesday promises to be brutal. San Diego’s independent budget analysts last week answered the question: What happens if City Council doesn’t raise rates? The answer was bad: The Public Utilities Department cuts 30 percent of its budget and cuts staff or defaults on loans.

There’s another question that deserves a look just in case stuff really goes haywire. San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert was so ticked off at the San Diego County Water Authority for its spiking prices back in January, she suggested the city stop paying its water bills.

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Big San Diego Water Rate Hikes Are ‘Crucial,’ Budget Experts Warn Ahead of Vote

/in , /by /San Diego Union Tribuneby Maura Fox Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

As San Diego council members prepare to vote on major water and sewer rate hikes, the city’s independent budget analyst warns that higher rates are all but unavoidable in order to keep the Public Utilities Department afloat — and that not raising rates would hurt customers in other ways.

The City Council is scheduled to vote on Tuesday on a proposal that could raise water rates for San Diego customers by more than 60% and sewer rates by more than 30% over the next four years.

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California Lawmakers Send Weaker Proposals for Data Centers to Gov. Newsom

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Khari Johnson

California lawmakers started the year signaling they were ready to get tough on data centers, aiming to protect the environment and electricity ratepayers. Nine months later, they have little to show for it.

Of four data center bills in play, two never made it out of the Legislature, including one that would have required data centers to publicize their power use and another that would have provided incentives for them to use more clean energy.

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VOSD Podcast: Uncharted Waters

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña

As we previewed on last week’s podcast episode, there’s a big vote coming that has us on the edge of our seats.

San Diego City Council members are set to vote on water rate increases on Tuesday. That increase is driven by the slew of investments our region has made over the years to secure water from a variety of sources.

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Experts Call for Immediate Cuts to Water Use From the Colorado River

/in , /by /KPBS by Kori Suzuki

The mighty Colorado River, which supplies water to cities and farms across Southern California, could again dwindle to dangerously low levels next year.

That’s the finding of a new analysis published earlier this month by a group of prominent scholars. They claim the river is closer than previously thought to running into serious infrastructure complications that could stop water from flowing.

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San Diego City Council to Vote on Proposed Water Rate Hikes

/in , /by /CBS 8by Steffi Roche

Community members will have one last opportunity on Tuesday to voice their opinions before the San Diego City Council votes on proposed water rate hikes during their council meeting.

The proposed water rate increases could result in a cumulative hike of more than 60% over the next four years. The proposed increases are attributed to several factors, including the cost of importing water, inflation, repairs to aging infrastructure and investments in future water projects.

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San Diego’s Water Department Is Not Alright

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby MacKenzie Elmer

Amid handwringing at San Diego City Hall over next week’s vote to hike water rates, city analysts dropped a harrowing report revealing how easily the department that handles water and wastewater could collapse without them.

There are whispers that Mayor Todd Gloria’s administration is struggling to get the votes to pass a four-year proposed 63 percent rate hike and 31 percent wastewater rate hike Tuesday. But the city’s independent budget analysts sharply warned against doing anything that would starve the Public Utilities Department of more revenue.

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California Lawmakers Wanted to Get Tough on Data Centers. Here’s What Survived

/in , /by /Cal Mattersby Khari Johnson

California lawmakers started the year signaling they were ready to get tough on data centers, aiming to protect the environment and electricity ratepayers. Nine months later, they have little to show for it.

Of four data center bills in play, two never made it out of the Legislature, including one that would have required data centers to publicize their power use and another that would have provided incentives for them to use more clean energy.

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City Staff Deflect Blame Away From Pure Water Before San Diego’s Big Water Rate Vote

/in , /by /Voice of San Diegoby MacKenzie Elmer

As the San Diego City Council prepares to make major water rate hikes, city staff clearly want weary councilmembers to blame the San Diego County Water Authority and not the wastewater recycling project the city is building.

Tuesday the City Council will vote on a 63 percent water rate hike and 31 percent wastewater rate increase over the next four years. City Hall is abuzz with chatter that there may not be enough votes to pass the rate increases, which could set in motion an unpredictable series of events. The city pays the Water Authority about $30 million per month for water. The Water Authority’s bills to the city will come due no matter what. But if elected leaders refuse to raise rates, San Diego’s utilities department can’t collect the money it needs to function.

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