Cost of Water Goes Up 65% in Marina del Rey : Utilities: The increase may be passed on through higher rents to apartment tenants and small-business operators, says spokesman for lessees group.

The cost of water is going up 65% in Marina del Rey to pay for replacing the harbor community’s aging water lines.

The higher rate, approved by the County Board of Supervisors last week, will be paid by the business interests that hold long-term leases with the county on large land holdings in the marina.

The rate increases are retroactive to Oct. 1 and may be passed on in the form of higher rents to apartment tenants and small-business operators, said Bob Leslie, spokesman for the Marina del Rey Lessees Assn.

Under the new rate, a typical restaurant will see its water bill jump from $4,900 to $8,200 a year, and an apartment building from $12,700 to $20,900, said Jim Noyes, deputy director of public works for the county.

The higher rate will be imposed for at least 20 years, to raise the $11.6 million that it will cost to replace all water mains in Marina del Rey and to build a 4-million gallon storage tank.

The construction is needed because the community’s original water system is more than 25 years old, county officials say.

Pipes laid in about 1963 corroded quickly because of their contact with saltwater, Noyes said. And the old system was built when building heights in the marina were limited to two stories, before high-rise developments requiring more sewage capacity were built around the small-craft harbor.

Work on the improvements is expected to begin in 1992 and continue for about 10 years. The first phase will replace pipes supplying water to the harbor’s boat docks. Next will come construction of the storage tank, to provide reserves for the community. The tank will actually be built up the water line, on a hillside in Malibu, and connected by existing pipes to the marina. Finally, the Public Works Department will replace water mains beneath Marina del Rey’s streets.

“We need all this work because of the additional construction already made in the marina and the building that is anticipated,” Noyes said.

Leslie said Marina del Rey business people understand the need for the improvements, but that the cost is hard to absorb because it comes just as property tax bills with higher sewer assessments begin arriving in the mail.

The supervisors in May approved an increase from $120 to $270 per year for each customer who produces sewage equivalent to a single-family home.

“Everything seems to be going sky high,” Leslie said.

The higher sewer charges are to pay for improvements to the Hyperion Treatment Plant near El Segundo, Noyes said.