ORANGE : City Water Chief Seeks Rate Increase

City Water Supt. John V. Fonley this week recommended that the City Council impose a 20% increase in water rates and tougher conservation measures.

Fonley said the rate increase is necessary because of the rising costs of imported water and of power and salaries. Rates have not risen since 1985, he said.

The city’s rate system would be restructured, according to the proposal. The new rates would rise about $3 each month for a typical single-family home, said Steven Smith, department spokesman. A typical bill would increase from about $29 to $35, he said.

That’s “not very much when you consider how important water is to our lifestyle,” Smith said.

The cost of pumping ground water rose 6%, and the cost of water from the MWD has increased 15%, officials said. The city will also need to adjust for a revenue shortfall caused by water conservation, Fonley said. The city’s voluntary conservation program, adopted last May with the goal of reducing water use by 10%, has been only “marginally successful,” Fonley said.

The city imports 30% of its water from the MWD and pumps the rest from the ground-water basin. To meet MWD restrictions, the city must reduce water consumption by 10%, he said.

Fonley also recommended that the city increase rates for agricultural customers, requiring them to pay the same as residential users.

A plan outlining the new rate structure will be presented to the council by July 1, Smith said.

Also at the study session this week, Fonley recommended that the city resurrect two existing but unenforced ordinances that make it unlawful for consumers to “negligently use” water and allow officials to shut off service to wasteful consumers.

Under one ordinance, repeat violators are supposed to receive written notices that water service may be discontinued if “conditions are not corrected” within five days. “Wasteful use” includes irrigating a lawn between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. or on a windy day; operating decorative fountains without a water recycling system, and hosing down driveways and sidewalks without using a bucket or a hose with an automatic shut-off device.

(Home water conservation kits are available free from the Water Department.)

Fonley did not recommend designating “water police” or imposing fines, although other cities have adopted such strategies.

The council is expected to approve tougher measures, but a vote has not been scheduled, City Clerk Marilyn J. Jensen said.