The Sunnyslope County Water District is considering an increase
of water rates over the next 10 years to finance a new treatment
plant and an upgrade to another. The proposed rate increases will
be phased in over the next 10 years beginning in July with a 15
percent hike.
HOLLISTER
The Sunnyslope County Water District is considering an increase of water rates over the next 10 years to finance a new treatment plant and an upgrade to another. The new plant and the upgrade are needed for compliance with a contract between the district, the City of Hollister, San Benito County and the San Benito County Water District regarding water quality levels.
The upgrade to the Lessalt Treatment Plant – which treats water coming from the delta, delivered by the San Benito County Water District – will increase output from 1.5 million gallons per day to 3 million gallons per day of potable water and will meet new disinfectant byproduct rules set forth by the Department of Public Health, Sunnyslope Water District Engineer Ken Girouard said.
The water from this plant will go to the Fairview Pressure Zone, which is in the middle of Hollister, Girouard said. The district as a whole serves 5,300 water customers.
According to a letter from the district, the proposed rate increases will be phased in over the next 10 years beginning in July with a 15 percent hike. There are two other proposed increases, one in December, 15 percent, and one in December of 2010, 30 percent. After that, rates are proposed to increase between 5 percent and 8 percent annually. The letter also says that over the next 10-plus years, rates will likely double for water services.
The board will discuss the possibility of rate increases at its next meeting at 5:15 p.m. Thursday at the district office, 3750 Airline Highway in Hollister.
The proposed new groundwater treatment plant will treat water to 500 miligrams per liter of total dissolved solids and less than 120 miligrams per liter of hardness of calcium carbonate. This will be done to serve customers a higher water quality.
“We need to serve our customers a better quality water,” said Cathy Buck, finance and human resources manager for Sunnyslope County Water District.
When this plant is completed, Girouard said that customers will not need to use water softeners due to the lack of sodium and chloride in the water.
The current rates for single-family residences – the last hike was in December 2006 – start with a base charge of $13.86 for customers inside the district. For the first 2000 cubic feet of water, there is an additional $1.68 per 100 cubic feet of consumption. For the next 4,000 cubic feet consumed, the rate increases to $2.37 per 100 cubic feet. And for consumption over 6,000 cubic feet per month, the rate increases again to $5.74 per 100 cubic feet.
The water district released a letter in response to green flyers that were placed on water meters throughout the Sunnyslope district. The flyer says that the district wants to double rates to fix a problem with the wastewater treatment facility at Ridgemark. While the board of directors is considering raising rates to update an old facility and build a new plant, the letter from Sunnyslope says that the rate increases have nothing to do with fixing the wastewater treatment plant at Ridgemark.
The flyer gave an incorrect date for the board of directors meeting – Feb. 26 – and Buck said that it generated few phone calls and no complaints from district residents.
“No one came to that meeting regarding water rates,” she said.
If you would like more information on this subject, call the district office at 637-4670 or go to its Web site at www.sscwd.org.
