Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
we charge customers the cost of delivering the water. The price of
water then is structured to cover our costs, and you see it vary widely
as a result. Some agriculture districts pay $15 to $20 an acre-foot,
whereas in our service area, Metropolitan's wholesale price is $500 an
acre-foot of water. By the time water gets to the homeowner through
the retailer, it could be up to $1,000 per acre-foot,” adds Kightlinger.
It's not that easy to raise rates, agrees Richard Atwater, Chino,
California, water utility chief. Municipal water suppliers are public
agencies, and that means rate changes must be approved by city
councils and elected water board directors, who must consider indi-
vidual hardships and economics.
“You have to be smart about raising rates,” Atwater says. “For
example, a lifeline rate for people like senior citizens who don't
use a lot of water and perhaps can't afford higher rates is appropri-
ate in most communities. But if you live on a large lot and want to
use 10 times the normal amount of water to grow a gorgeous gar-
den, you should have a much higher rate since it will cost more for
the water utility to provide that additional water.”
Catch-22.
Beware, however; cheap water is a catch-22, says Pacifi c
Institute's Peter Gleick. At a time when water conservation is impor-
tant, too-cheap water promotes ineffi cient and wasteful use of the
resource. Systems continue to leak, and people aren't overly con-
cerned. That approach needs to change, Gleick adds.
Going forward, we can either fi nd new sources or do more with
what we have, says Gleick. “It's much cheaper and better for the
environment to do more with the water we have. We can't keep
fi nding new sources. There is a limit, and we're up against the limit
now in many parts of the United States, and in many parts of the
world.”
One of those areas up against the limit is California. There is
no silver bullet to solve that state's water problems, Gleick testi-
fi ed in January 2010 before a U.S. House Subcommittee on Water
and Power. But, he also said at the time, “Improving the effi -
ciency of our water use is the cheapest, easiest, fastest, and least
destructive way to meet California's current and future water
supply needs.”
3
How much “extra” water is lost through ineffi ciencies? In
September, Gleick's organization, the Pacifi c Institute, released a
