Farmers Feel Threat From Water Rate Rises

A more than doubling of water rates over the next decade will significantly trim the number of farms in San Diego County, farmers said last week after meeting with water officials.

“We will soon reach the point where it becomes economically unfeasible to produce avocados and probably a number of other tree crops,” said Alan Ferguson, an avocado grower and president of the board of the Rainbow Municipal Water District.

The Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District, which supplies San Diego County with 95% of its water, is considering a 55% increase in water rates starting March 1 and an increase of 225% by the end of the century.

The increases will help pay for $4 billion in facilities and $500 million for water filtration equipment over the next 10 years, said Duane Georgeson, the water district’s assistant general.

“The facts of life are that, if you need a firm supply of water, whether you’re a homeowner or business or farmer, then you should expect to pay for that firm supply of water,” Georgeson said.

“The farmers in our service territory pay very high prices for their water, and that’s because they choose to farm in an area where it costs a lot of money to get the water in that area,” Georgeson said.

The rate increases slated for next year translates to about $5 a month for the average residential customer in San Diego County, Georgeson said.

But for farms, where water makes up as much as 70% of growing expenses, the rate increases will mean thousands of dollars a year.

“If I got top dollar for my avocadoes, and my product equaled about average, I would just break even,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson argues that the new facilities are being built to accommodate new residents, businesses and industries as the region grows, and those people should pay for them through increased hook-up fees.

Among the facilities planned are the Domenigoni Reservoir southwest of Hemet, to be completed by 1999 at a cost of $1.5 billion, and a $180-million pipeline that will bring that water to San Diego County.

Mike Horwath, president of the San Diego County Farm Bureau, said the fate of farming in the county rests with local water districts, which control the distribution of water to individual users.

“It’s going to have to be settled on the local level, not so much with MWD,” Horwath said.

“If we eliminate agriculture either through increased water rates or some other way, is that going to negatively affect the quality of life here in San Diego County? I say yes,” Horwath said.

The fate of farmers in the long run also rests on larger economic questions that cannot be answered right now, Horwath said.

As the number of farmers dwindle, prices will rise, making it more feasible for the remaining farmers to survive, he said.

But the farms that do die will probably not be replaced by other farms but instead will be sold because the land will be too valuable, Horwath said.

“If they make agriculture economically infeasible in this county, it won’t come back. It’s like an endangered species: once you kill it, it never returns,” Horwath said.