Public letter from Councilwoman Harris

By Liz Harris

   I completely agree with the Grizzly editorial last week regarding water!

   As a responsible Governing body and community leaders, we must address the water issues and plan for the future of our Valley.

   The issue is not do we have enough water for the 10-condo units discussed in the zone change at our last Council meeting. Mr. Hall will be paying $79,730 in DWP Supplemental Water Source fees and $78,190 in DWP Water Demand Offset fees in order to “off set” the water use in his development by rehabilitating toilets, faucets and showerheads in older buildings in our community and paying for the removal of water sucking turf.

   As a result, Mr. Hall was given a “water will serve” letter by the DWP. By Mr. Hall’s “off-setting” the water demand of his project, the DWP has the water to serve this project.

   I think every one understands that Mr. Hall’s project is not the BIG issue. The BIG important issue is - How long can we continue our limited controlled growth within the existing water supply?

   For several years the DWP has limited their issuances of water meters to 1% a year. This keeps the cities growth to 1%. However, this year the DWP has issued 97 water meters to date. Now, this is for ALL of the DWP’s service area. That is .69 of 1%.  Less than ¾’s of 1 percent grown rate!

   This is important because the people who purchase their water meters have “offset” the water use the new projects will use by paying DWP’s Supplemental Water, Demand Off Set and Connection fees totaling more than $765,000 on a growth rate of less that ¾ %. The $765,000 helps DWP solve the water issues this town faces. These are fees you and I do not have to pay in taxes.

   Does this ¾% represent unreasonable growth? I believe that folks who understand the negative implications of stopped growth do no believe this is unreasonable.

   For over a year, as Chair of BBARWA I have been discussing the need for a Water Summit.  The Water Summit should include all agencies that have water responsibilities, DWP, CSD, MWD and BBARWA. The water issues cannot be solved by one agency alone.

   Our best-assured source of water is the water that is generated from BBARWA. It should be noted that there are at least 10 different ways to address the 2 million gallons of water a day that BBARWA sends off the mountain to water the alfalfa in Lucerne.  That water is our only renewable water resource. It is already here on the mountain. I believe we, as community leaders will be irresponsible if we do not carefully examine each of the 10 ways to use the BBARWA water.

   The City alone cannot solve the problem! It will take a long time, complicated negotiations and lots of good will to address and solve our valley water challenges.

   It is important that after the action of the Council two weeks ago the following 4 things must occur as soon as possible:

1. The Council and the DWP must meet immediately to discuss the water issues and the DWP Master Plan in order not to penalize Mr. Hall who has worked for over 4 years with City Staff and the Planning Commission. He has met with concerned neighbors, reduced the density of his development and complied with every requirement from the City. He will pay the fees to off set the impact of water use from his development. He has followed the rules. It is not reasonable to hold him hostage as we work though our challenges.

2. The DWP must demonstrate to our citizens how the Off-Set Program works and why through this program limited growth is reasonable.

3. Following the Council and DWP meeting I’m officially requesting that all water agencies in the Valley meet to discuss and commit to working to resolve the concerns that we all have for water in our valley.

4. Following the Council’s meeting with the DWP, I’d like to request that Mr. Hall’s general plan amendment and zone change be placed on the next agenda for the Council’s consideration and approval.

   The water issue is complicated and cannot possibly be solved quickly. But, if the citizens, elected officials and agency staffs all agree to work on this important issue together we will properly plan for the future of the Valley.

[Editor's note: we would love to put a link to the editorial in the Grizzly, however they do not want anyone to do this.]

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