Water Rates to Be Raised

West Covina and Walnut residents served by West Covina’s Water Department will pay roughly $10 more on their bimonthly water bills beginning in July.

The rate increase reflects at least a 20% increase in the cost of wholesale water supplied by the Metropolitan Water District, according to Harry Thomas, West Covina’s public works director. The MWD is charging more for its water because it has embarked on a 10-year, $6-billion expansion program that includes a new reservoir in Riverside County, an MWD spokesman said.

West Covina’s Water Department, which receives all of its water from the MWD, serves about 18,000 residents in southern West Covina and western Walnut. Beginning in July, customers will pay an average bill of between $80.72 and $87.84, depending on the elevation of their homes.

West Covina is in the process of filing court papers that may allow it to buy some water from Covina Irrigation Co., which has told the city it could provide significant savings over MWD prices, Thomas said.

A judge, he said, would have to approve the city’s plan to receive water from the San Gabriel Valley water basin. Because ground water supplies vary year to year according to rainfall, West Covina would continue to buy some MWD water.

Thomas said the city’s water customers should expect their rates to continue to increase at least 5% or 6% a year, and probably more over the next three years. The price of MWD water is expected to nearly double by the end of the century to pay for more water storage and other improvements.