Chico Taxpayers Association

I have joined efforts with Marysville and Oroville for Reasonable Water Rates, along with people from other nearby towns that are being hit with water rate increases, to get the word out to other folks up and down the state – we don’t have to take this TAKING laying down. Cal Water and other private providers will tell you they need the money to serve us!  Take one of these right now!

My mom gave me these. She had a built-in Bullshit Detector, but figured I might need a supplement.

Here, Cal Water is requesting a 38 percent rate increase to cover their “operating costs”. My notice said:

“Cal Water is proposing this change in rates due to  the following factors:

• Cal Water is requesting $556,000 to retain the same level of employee health care, pensions, and retiree health care benefits for General Office personnel, the costs of which have increased faster than inflation.
• Cal Water is requesting $423,000 to retain for district personnel the same level of employee benefits described above
• Cal Water is requesting $415,000 for the allocation of General Office operation expenses
• Cal Water is requesting $395,000 to retain quality employees in the district
• Cal Water is requesting $163,000 for water infrastructure improvements between 2013 and 2016

Another problem with our water billing is WRAM – the Water Rate Adjustment Mechanism. This allows Cal Water and other private water companies to manipulate our rates monthly without hearings or CPUC approval.  Municipal water companies do not have WRAM. Look at your bills, it’s there.

So, I have been trying to write to papers around the state, telling people what we’re doing – write to Assemblyman Anthony Rendon at Assemblymember.Rendon@asm.ca.gov  

This is not a lost effort.  Mr. Rendon’s staff has responded to other writers that there will be a hearing regarding water rates and how they affect the ratepayers at the state capital on February 3, 3pm, Room 437. I know that’s short notice, but you can still e-mail Rendon and tell you him you’re concerned about how water rates will affect your life.  At least you know it’s something they’re discussing, your comments will have a better chance of having some effect. Be short and to the point, hopefully he will have a lot of e-mails on this subject.

I always feel weird writing to papers in other towns, but what the heck – it’s one of the only ways to network with the more general public. Sure you could look for other groups – that’s called, “preaching to the choir,” Hon. I prefer to launch myself out there, God(dess) save me, and see what I can find. Sometimes I find a closed door, and a long dark walk home. Other times I find somebody – like the other day at the garbage meeting – who says, “Wow, I have been trying to find out how to get in touch with you!”  Or, “Hey, that pisses me off too!” Zowie! That really turns my wheels.

I was reading through an online paper in the little town of Downey California, the Downey Patriot. I came across this letter, posted January 23.

Dear Editor:
On early morning walks it’s interesting to observe how we irrigate our property.
Sometimes sprinkler heads are broken and water gushes up like Old Faithful and then cascades into the gutter, or sprinkler heads are directing water onto sidewalks and streets. We, including this writer, waste our precious supply of fresh water big time. We think it’s an infinite supply, that it never will be depleted, that it will always be there for us. Not true. We constantly strive for a beautiful lawn in our semiarid, desert-like environment.
Some scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography predict a 50 percent probability that Lake Mead will be completely dry by 2021 because of climate change, unsustainable overuse of the Colorado River and population increase. Lake Mead, a huge reservoir of Colorado River water supplying Arizona, Nevada, California and Northern Mexico is dropping to a level not seen since it was first being filled in the 1930s.
We have been in an 11-year ongoing drought. Many of our large water reservoirs are down 50 percent or more. Look at hills that haven’t burned and notice how brown they are. That is how Southern California would look in its natural state without large amounts of imported water.
We continue sticking our heads in the sand by not immediately taking steps to radically save our diminishing water supply. This writer and his family have spent many happy days on Lake Powell, Mead, Mohave and Lake Havasu boating, swimming, fishing, skiing and camping. It’s amazing to watch the mighty Colorado flow by and know how vital it is for those of us who live in the Western U.S.
It is amazing to see all the water behind these giant dams and now some experts believe that in the future, lack of water may make it necessary to close either Boulder Dam or Glen Canyon Dam.
Byron Dillon
Downey

Zowie! I had to answer Mr. Dillon.

I live in the Northern California town of Chico. I have a group of friends, Chico Taxpayers Association, who have been networking with a growing number of people in Butte, Sutter, Lake and Glenn Counties who are concerned about the way private water companies are billing consumers.   

WRAM comes into your bill when your water usage falls below what your private provider determines is necessary to cover their expenses for that month. Over the past year this has added anywhere from $8 to $20 to my monthly bill, while I’ve been replacing plumbing and killing sections of landscaping.

Here in Chico, Cal Water’s “expenses” included over $1.7 million to provide fully-paid pensions and health benefits, cover “general office operation expenses” and new salaries, but only $163,000 for infrastructural maintenance. WRAM allows them to manipulate rates at will, monthly, without any public hearing or CPUC process.

My friends and I are asking legislators to suspend WRAM for full investigation. You can contact me at https://chicotaxpayers.com/  You can also contact Assemblyman Anthony Rendon,  Assemblymember.Rendon@asm.ca.gov, who sits on the committee that oversees water issues, and ask him to call for the suspension of WRAM.  

I’m hoping the Patriot will run my letter, and that at least some readers will either contact Rendon or come on over to our website and get more information. I work incrementally. Every little contact breeds other little contacts, until an idea gets out there to the general public. I think that’s the way to make a difference, I hope you will join me and give a few minutes of your time to this effort.

Tags: Cal Water, Cal Water rate hike, Marysville for reasonable water rates, Oroville for Reasonable Water Rates, water rate adjustment mechanism, WRAM