Tom Fudge: Today, the City of San Diego's water director Jim Barrett will make a presentation before the city council. He'll talk about the water rates the city charges its residents. On one level, the issue is very simple: The county water authority is raising the rates it charges to San Diego for water. The council is being asked to pass those charges along to city rate payers in the form of a modest rate increase.
But is the issue ever that simple when it comes to water issues in the desert southwest? Of course not.
In fact, lately, it's been getting more and more complicated. The west is in the grip of a drought. What's more, a judge's ruling on environmental protection may force a drastic reduction in pumping of water from the Sacramento river valley. That's where San Diego gets a large percentage of our water. We don't know how much that ruling will cause use to lose, but it will be a lot.
The San Diego City Council will hold a public hearing at 2 p.m. today (Oct. 08) to consider proposed adjustments to water and sewer rates. The public hearing will take place in the City Administration Building Downtown.
Guests
- Jim Barrett, water director for City of San Diego .
- Tim Bertch, director of the City of San Diego's Metropolitan Wastewater Department .
