The San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA)Thursday approved a new wholesale water rate for the next fiscal year. The agency said the 8.3% increase is less than what it originally forecast earlier this year.
"The reductions were achieved by cutting budgets across the agency, including capital improvement projects, operating departments, the Board of Directors, and equipment replacement," the Water Authority said in an announcement. "In addition, the adopted rate was lowered by third-party water exchanges and financial benefits from the conclusion of litigation between the Water Authority and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California."
The wholesale rate is what the SDCWA charges its member agencies. The agency says home and business customers will feel the impact differently based on how their water supplier handles costs.
"While I recognize the impact of this increase on working families around the region, the Water Authority is now on a path for smoother and smaller rate increases in the future that will provide the financial stability our region needs while still ensuring safe and reliable water supplies,” said SDCWA board chairman Nick Serrano.
On Thursday, the agency also approved a recommended two-year budget, under pressures of increasing costs. One of the elements under consideration was whether to continue funding for the Water Conservation Garden.
The County Water Authority has been contributing $150,000 a year toward running the garden dedicated to educating county residents about water conservation and sustainability. On Thursday, board members rejected options to continue that funding after June 30.
The loss of Water Authority money is a blow for supporters of the garden, who'd launched an online campaign in favor of continued funding for the six-acre site at Cuyamaca College in El Cajon, which features all sorts of exhibits — ideas on what to plant that will beautify land, while saving water.
There is also a children’s area for when the young ones tire of looking at all the flora, an amphitheater for group presentations, a gazebo for weddings and parties, and informational signs featuring QR codes everywhere you look.
Emily Routman is a three-year volunteer at the garden. She is retired, but she spent her career helping organizations craft effective financial and mission-related strategies. She spoke to KPBS the day before the vote, and said any move to cut, or cut off funding is shortsighted.
“This is not a good strategic move. The investment that was made to build this place, that has created this place of beauty and education, that advances the missions of all of the water districts, this investment would be lost and wasted if the county withdrew their support,” she said. “It does not make any strategic sense for them to give up on this place, and to close this beautiful and informative resource that advances their mission.”
Volunteer Harold Bailey has 40 years of water industry experience including at the City of San Diego, and the Padre Dam Municipal Water District. Bailey has volunteered at the Water Conservation Garden for 13 years.
Bailey said the Water Authority’s level of financial support amounts to a bit less than five cents a year per ratepayer.
“I think they have not done an adequate cost benefit analysis to see what the value of this garden is. Our motto is, ‘More beauty, less water,’ and less water is the theme. It’s conservation at the forefront. So by not taking that into account, I think they’re just trying to make an offhand decision and save a few dollars,” he said.
Some municipalities have also supported the project. But over the years, some of that support has fallen away, including from the City of San Diego, which recently ended its financial support of the Garden. The garden is still getting financial support from some other local water purveyors, but it’s unclear whether that support will continue in light of the County Water Authority’s action.
Still, the garden’s director of operations, Lauren Magnuson, told KPBS they’ve faced difficult times before in their 26-year history. She said they’ll consider what’s next at their next meeting in July.
