Water Rates May Remain Low This Summer : Utilities: Council panel makes recommendation in response to complaints from Valley residents over high bills last year.

In response to a flood of complaints from San Fernando Valley residents over high water bills last summer, a Los Angeles City Council committee recommended Tuesday that the city extend lower winter water rates through this summer.

The winter rates, which are about 28% lower for heavy water users than summer rates, are a stopgap until a special water rates panel appointed by the mayor devises a permanent rate system that addresses Valley residents’ criticism.

The Commerce, Energy and Natural Resources Committee unanimously supported the recommendation to extend the lower winter rates, but the proposal is expected to spark harsh debate when it comes before the entire City Council next week.

The water rate structure imposed last year had two tiers, a high rate for customers who use more than twice the median amount of water, and a lower rate for smaller users. It was designed to promote water conservation.

But in the Valley, where lots tend to be larger and summers tend to be hotter, residents raised a furor when they began to receive summer water bills ranging from $500 to $900.

Despite criticism over the rate structure, Sandy Brown, co-chairwoman of the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Water Rates, said her group will probably recommend a permanent rate system that retains the two-tier approach.

“We are still looking favorably at a two-tier system,” she told the committee.

But Councilman Hal Bernson, who represents the northeast Valley, blasted the two-tier structure, saying it forces Valley residents to pay more than their share for water. He promised to lobby the council to impose a permanent rate structure that charges the same amount for each billing unit, regardless of how much water is used.

“There is only one fair and equitable solution,” he said. “Pay for what you use, and have everyone pay the same rate. I will not stand for one part of the city subsidizing the other any longer.”

Other council members, including Mike Hernandez, who represents central Los Angeles, have backed the two-tier structure because they say it forces high water users to conserve water.