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Customers in the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District who have already been hit with a series of annual rate increases could see their bills on the rise again as agencies across the state figure out how to pay for the $17-billion Delta tunnels. The LVMWD board of directors met Sept. 12 to endorse Gov. Jerry Brown’s California WaterFix project that will use a pair of 30-mile-long tunnels in a way that changes the how Northern California water moves through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and into the state’s Central Valley and points south.

 

At a “Wet and Wonderful” symposium at Descanso Gardens Saturday, water officials will promote the necessity of California WaterFix — a $17-billion plan to reengineer the flow of Northern California water past the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta into Central and Southern California. The plan involves the installation of two underground tunnels that would bypass the environmentally delicate delta and move Sierra Nevada runoff from the Sacramento River through aqueducts to water districts southward to San Diego.

Despite opposition by a number of consumer and water conservation groups, the Pasadena City Council Monday evening unanimously approved a resolution in support of the proposed $16 billion California WaterFix Program, due to be completed in 2030. The resolution is only a policy statement of support and not an official legislative action.

LA Ratepayers and Advocates Rally Against Runaway Rate Hikes, Demand Firing Of DWP Ratepayer Advocate For Siding With Utility, And Call On Mayor Eric Garcetti and City Council To Reject $2,000-$4,000 Delta Tunnels Tax and Rate Hike outside LA City Hall Monday.

Several groups converged at Los Angeles City Hall Monday with a demand: that the official advocate responsible for fighting for the interests of Department of Water and Power customers be fired. Many took issue in particular with his conclusions on a controversial $16 billion water tunnel project in northern California. Representatives of Consumer Watchdog and other groups say the utility’s official “ratepayer advocate,” Fred Pickel, has not been working on the side of customers. They have launched a campaign to oust him.