Location, Pollution Raise Level of Valley Water Bills : Services: Widespread contamination, hillside developments mean increased costs for utilities and consumers.

Soon after Carol Thompson moved to La Verne seven years ago, she received something shocking in the mail: her water bill.

Thompson immediately called La Verne Public Works Director Brian Bowcock to demand an explanation. “She almost choked,” Bowcock said, recalling her frustration.

But Thompson, a water engineer herself, quickly adjusted to the fact that she had left behind moderate water bills when she moved from Arcadia to La Verne.

“There’s really not an awful lot you can do,” Thompson said. “You want your water!”

Thompson’s situation is not unusual in the San Gabriel Valley, where water rates vary widely from community to community.

A Times survey has found average residential rates ranging from a low of $18.40 every two months in parts of Irwindale, Baldwin Park and West Covina to $65.35 in La Verne.

There are about 55 water suppliers in the valley, ranging from tiny “mutuals” serving a handful of families to large city-run water agencies. The Times surveyed the 21 largest suppliers, each serving 5,000 or more residences and businesses. Companies provided average figures for a household using 3,500 cubic feet--26,250 gallons--of water every two months.

Water officials attribute the rate variations to many factors, including the high cost of purifying water from the contaminated San Gabriel Basin, which in 1985 was designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a Superfund site. Officials also cite the expense of pumping water to higher elevations, and of buying it from the Metropolitan Water District.

In La Verne, Bowcock said, the problem is nitrates. Because all eight of the city’s wells yield water with excessive nitrate levels, the city must import 70% to 80% of its water from MWD at $228 per acre-foot; one acre-foot equals about 326,000 gallons. La Verne will have to buy at least 6,300 acre-feet of MWD water in 1989-90 to mix with its well water to make it drinkable, he said.

“It’s going to cost me a lot of bucks,” Bowcock said. If it weren’t for the nitrates, which come from fertilizer and are a legacy of the area’s agricultural past, the city could provide water to all 7,907 households and businesses it supplies at just $70 per acre-foot, he said.

“That’s hard for residents to understand,” he said.

In addition, the city is still paying off construction costs for reservoirs and “booster stations” that pump water to the growing population living at higher elevations toward the north end of town. And an annual $1-million payment toward a treatment plant built three years ago shows up in customers’ bills as $16 every two months.

The Walnut Valley Water District also has high rates because of nitrates, Finance Director Norm Miyake said. As a result, the district, which serves Diamond Bar and portions of Walnut, Industry, Rowland Heights and West Covina, relies completely on MWD water, he said. He added that treatment of the water is too expensive to be considered.

In Covina, concerns about high water bills recently prompted the City Council to take the first step toward slashing rates by more than 20%. The proposed changes, recommended by a citizens committee and endorsed by the council Jan. 22, would bring rates down from an average of $45.88 to $36.02.

At the other end of the spectrum, cities with the cheapest water rates tend to draw most of their water from the ground, not the MWD. But the bargains may dry up as contamination spreads.

The Valley County Water District, supplier to parts of Irwindale, Baldwin Park and West Covina, said its prices may be going up in order to fight the problem.

Eight of the Valley County Water District’s 10 wells are plagued by contaminants, General Manager Stan Yarbrough said. And the contamination is spreading toward the two remaining clean wells.

The district has installed an aeration tower to clean water from two wells, and plans to begin construction of additional treatment facilities for two more wells this month.

“Unfortunately 1,000 feet west of this is another (well) site,” Yarbrough said. “We’re very concerned about the plume (of contaminants) moving further west.”

As a backup in case the two good wells become contaminated, the district has arranged to start buying additional water starting in June, 1991.

District officials on Tuesday asked their board of directors to authorize rate increases to help fund the measures. The board approved the increases, to begin today

“We’re going to have to recoup that money in increased rates,” said Clinton Nixon, district vice president. “We intend to still be among the lowest in the area.”

Consumers have little say in the selection of a utility because water mains usually are already laid when they move in, said Tom Shollenberger, water division general manager in Alhambra, which pumps 85% of its water from the ground and had the second-lowest rates among the agencies surveyed.

Just as residents have little control over who provides their water, suppliers face restrictions on how much water they can draw from the ground. The administrator of water rights in the valley is the Main San Gabriel Basin Watermaster. The agency follows a Los Angeles Superior Court decision that in 1973 allocated each supplier a certain proportion based on historical usage. Every year, the agency determines the amount of water that can be withdrawn without depleting the basin, then allots each supplier its share.

The basin that supplies the area’s water is bounded on the west by South Pasadena, Alhambra and Monterey Park, and on the east by Glendora, Covina and West Covina. It slopes north to the base of the San Gabriel mountains from its southernmost border at Whittier Narrows.

The watermaster has determined that San Gabriel Valley water agencies will be allowed to pump about 180,000 acre-feet from the ground this fiscal year. If they pump more, as they usually do, they will be required to buy extra water from the MWD to replenish the basin.

Robert Berlien, general manager of the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District, which brokers the sale of MWD water to 45 local agencies, said it has to buy an average of 40,000 to 50,000 acre-feet each year for replenishment.

Berlien, also a watermaster executive officer, noted that 80 of the 400 wells in the valley are contaminated. He predicted that local water rates could go up significantly, perhaps in as little as two years, because of the high cost of cleaning up ground-water contamination.

“It’s been expected the EPA will do the cleanup,” Berlien said, noting that local water suppliers until now have not invested much in decontamination. “It appears now a lot of local funding will be necessary to build treatment plants.”

By late summer, the watermaster plans to release recommendations on possible solutions.

Some water agencies are already tackling the problem.

To lower concentrations of nitrates, and of trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE), both possible carcinogens, Arcadia blends water from four wells. In addition, since 1984, the city has been aerating water from two wells in a process that turns contaminants into gases that escape into the air, Water Manager Eldon Davidson said.

In Pasadena, where four wells have been closed since April because of high levels of carbon tetrachloride, Water Systems Manager Bill Bangham has decided that it would be cheaper to treat the water. The city now buys 50% to 60% of its water from the MWD.

The four contaminated wells, which produced 30% of the city’s water, will be able to begin operating again when a treatment facility is built within five years, he said.

Bangham also noted that there is a constant tightening of water purity standards set by the EPA and state officials. That necessitates more testing, the cost of which is passed on to consumers.

“There are a host of things related to quality that will pressure us to increase costs,” he said.

SAN GABRIEL VALLEY WATER RATES

Average bills for residential customers using 3,500 cubic feet--26,250 gallons--of water every two months.

Alhambra serves 15,730 in Alhambra Arcadia serves 14,000 in Arcadia and some county areas. Azusa Valley Water Co. serves 14,453 in portions of Azusa, Covina, West Covina, Glendora, Irwindale and some county areas. California-American Water Co. Duarte District serves 6,824 in Duarte and Bradbury. California-American Water Co. San Marino District serves 13,629 in San Marino and portions of Rosemead, El Monte, San Gabriel and Temple City. Covina serves 8,064 in Covina, portions of West Covina and some county areas. As of March 1: Glendora serves 13,000 in Glendora and some county areas. La Verne serves 7,907 in portions of La Verne and some county areas. Monrovia serves 8,500 in Monrovia. Monterey Park serves 13,000 in Monterey Park. Pasadena serves 36,593 in Pasadena and portions of Altadena. Pomona serves 27,230 in Pomona, portions of Montclair, Chino and some county areas. Rowland Water District serves 12,000 in portions of Rowland Heights, Hacienda Heights, Industry, West Covina and La Puente. San Gabriel County serves 45,000 in portions of Water District San Gabriel, Rosemead, Temple City and some county areas. San Gabriel Valley serves 44,168 in portions of Arcadia Water Co. Baldwin Park, El Monte, La Puente, Industry, Irwindale, Montebello, Monterey Park, Pico Rivera, Rosemead, San Gabriel, Santa Fe Springs, South El Monte, West Covina and Whittier. Southern California Water Co. San Gabriel Valley District serves 11,402 in portions of Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale, Temple City, El Monte, Rosemead, San Gabriel and Monterey Park. Southern California Water Co. San Dimas District serves 14,535 in portions of San Dimas and Charter Oaks. South Pasadena serves 6,000 in South Pasadena and portions of San Marino and Los Angeles. Suburban Water serves 33,195 in portions of Systems Covina, West Covina, La Puente, Hacienda Heights. Sunny Slope Water Co. serves 6,002 in portions of Temple City, San Gabriel, Pasadena, San Marino, Arcadia. Valley County serves 11,100 in portions of Water District Irwindale, Baldwin Park and West Covina. As of today: Walnut Valley serves 24,000 in Diamond Bar Water District and portions of Walnut, Industry, Rowland Heights and West Covina. West Covina serves 6,896 in portions of West Covina and Walnut.

Alhambra $23 Arcadia $25.35 Azusa Valley Water Co. $22.52 California-American Water Co. Duarte District $42.90 California-American Water Co. San Marino District $39.18 Covina $45.88; $36.02 Glendora $35.20 La Verne $65.35 Monrovia $31.20 Monterey Park $25.21 Pasadena $25.18 Pomona $36.39 Rowland Water District $35.20 San Gabriel County $34.90 Water District San Gabriel Valley $37.14 Water Co. Southern California Water Co. San Gabriel Valley District $34.79 Southern California Water Co. San Dimas District $46.18 South Pasadena $29.65 Suburban Water $39.10 Systems Sunny Slope Water Co. $32.05 Valley County $18.40 Water District $21.14 Walnut Valley $45.55 Water District West Covina $48.08

Source: San Gabriel Valley water companies serving 5,000 or more households or businesses.