OJAI : Higher Water Rates Are Inevitable, Company Says

Higher water rates cannot be avoided, no matter who provides the water, Southern California Water Co. officials told Ojai customers at a meeting Monday before the state Public Utilities Commission.

Ojai City Manager Andy Belknap said he cannot understand the justification for the company’s proposed 24.9% rate hike next year, when Ojai residents are already paying more for their water than others in western Ventura County.

A major reason the utility needs more capital is to fund a $500,000 project to drill a new well next year so it can avoid buying water from other suppliers, said Floyd Wicks, vice president of Southern California Water Co.

Wicks warned the 34 customers who attended the meeting that water rates from the Casitas Municipal Water District, which now provides one third of Southern California’s water, will jump to cover costs of a new water treatment plant planned for 1994.

“That cost is coming, and we want to minimize the impact on the city of Ojai,” Wicks said.

Belknap said the City Council has not yet taken a position on the proposed rate hike for the utility’s 2,688 customers in Ojai but will participate in formal commission hearings on the request July 16 in Los Angeles.

“We want to make sure we get the most for our money,” Belknap said.

Many residents contended that water from Casitas is cheaper. Southern California Water Co. officials said the firm has been certified by the state Public Utilities Commission, an agency decision they called difficult to reverse.

Ojai officials have been concerned about the stiff water rate hike Southern California Water Co. is proposing for its customers in the city.

The company wants to increase residential and commercial rates by 19% and 24% next year and a total of 35.5% by 1993. If approved, the average monthly residential bill would jump by $6.15 in 1991.

“The rates are set by the cost of service in the community,” said William V. Caveney, president of Southern California Water. “We catch hell if they’re not.”

The rate hike request is now pending before the Public Utilities Commission.