DANA POINT : District to Hike Water Rates 50%

Citing the drought and increased costs from water importers, the directors of the Capistrano Beach County Water District voted unanimously this week to increase water rates by 50%.

Based on the new rates, the average consumer in the district will see a two-month water bill jump from $21 to $31.50, with the potential for further major increases in the future, according to district officials.

“I’m sure we will see another rate increase in the next six months,” said Mark Sloate, a district director. The district serves a population of 21,000 in north San Clemente and the Capistrano Beach area of Dana Point.

The district buys its water from the San Clemente-based Tri-Cities Municipal Water District, which increased its rates this year and already foresees larger additional increases upcoming in each of the next two years, according to a district official. Tri-Cities has attributed its rate increases to the costs of building two new pipelines in South County.

Despite the increases, the district rates are still below that of many neighboring districts, including the South Coast Water District in the northwestern Dana Point area, officials said. The new rates will be effective Dec. 1 but will not appear on water bills until January or February.

At the Capistrano Beach district, the money collected from the rate increases will not only cover the rising costs of imported water, but will pay for rising operating costs, said Ray L. Benedicktus, another district director. A recent pay raise to district General Manager Dennis A. Erdman, increasing his annual salary by $20,000 to $70,000 a year plus benefits, retirement and the use of a car, did not significantly affect the rates, as has been charged by some critics, Benedicktus said.

“His salary is completely unrelated,” Benedicktus said. “He was promised the raise when he first came to the district last May and his salary was negotiated back then.”

To offset the rising water costs, the district directors are preparing plans to develop the underground water supply in the San Juan Creek basin, officials said. Included among the plans is a project that would treat underground water and transform it into potable water, officials said.