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FAQ's & Current IssuesSo how are my water rates determined? What is the Rowland Water Agreement? View draft RWD-LHHCWD Wheeling Agreement View Presentation explaining the aspects of the RWD-LHHCWD Wheeling Agreement What about the AERA development? Does the RWD Agreement make AERA possible? What is Orchard Dale Water District? Will the RWD Agreement impact our water quality?
What is the compensation and benefits package for Members of the Board of Directors of the La Habra Heights County Water District? Directors receive a $100 stipend per meeting for LHHCWD related business for up to six meetings per month not to exceed 36 meetings per year. Under current law, Directors are not eligible for retirement benefits (PERS) through the Water District. Our Directors do not receive any benefits for their service. The stipend has not been increased in over 30 years. They are not compensated for attending City Council meetings unless they are there to conduct district business. The total compensation for directors including reimbursement for travel and business meals is less than 0.5% (less than one percent) of the Water District’s expense budget. Eliminating the stipend and travel reimbursement for directors would not have an impact on water rates. Directors are compensated for travel and business meals when conducting district business and attending conferences, such as the ACWA (Association of California Water Agencies). Directors must submit receipts for all expenditures. There is no reimbursement for spousal meals or alcoholic beverages. So how are my water rates determined? Your water rates are controlled by state law and depend on district expenses. The district expenses are divided into fixed expenses and those that are related to the amount of water delivered. The fixed expenses are translated to your water bill as the Readiness-to-Serve charge, based on the size of meter you have, and the water related expenses appear on your bill as Water Usage and Energy Cost Charge. An administrative fee of 10% of the bill up to $18 is assessed for bills that are paid past the due date. Your water district must maintain a minimum reserve and must raise rates if the reserves fall below a certain level. Conversely if expenses drop or revenues increase, your district must pass the savings on to you through reduced rates. We have not had to increase your rates in the last five years. What is the Rowland Water Agreement?
The LHHCWD and the Rowland Water District (RWD) are in negotiations on an agreement for LHHCWD to move RWD’s water from Central Basin to RWD through LHHCWD infrastructure for a “wheeling” fee. The agreement has not been finalized, but under the current terms, RWD would pay the cost of a pipeline from our district to their district at no expense to our district. They will install fire hydrants on the pipeline at RWD expense for the benefit of LHHCWD customers. Under the agreement, we will only “wheel” water for RWD when we have surplus capacity. We will only “wheel” water that is owned by RWD, we are not selling our water to RWD. In addition to the “wheeling” fee, RWD will pay their share of the maintenance of our facilities. Initial estimates of revenue to our district through this agreement amounts to about $150,000 per year. The annual revenue would increase over time as RWD’s pipeline cost is amortized. The extra revenue and cost savings from this agreement will be passed on to district customers. One more way we try to keep your water rates down. From RWD perspective, this agreement is beneficial because it reduces their dependence on more expensive water from the Metropolitan Water District. This agreement does not have anything to do with any real estate development in either district. Please note that this agreement is still in negotiation and has not been executed by either party.What about the AERA development? Does the RWD Agreement make AERA possible? The RWD agreement, which is still in negotiation (see above), does not have anything to do with any real estate development project in either district. AERA is a real estate development proposal east of Harbor that has never been approved for development. The La Habra Journal (90631) reports that the property owner is currently in negotiations to sell a portion of the land to the Wildlife Corridor. It is unknown what will happen with this property, but it is clear that RWD does not depend on water “wheeled” by LHHCWD to provide water for the development. Our agreement has never been mentioned in conjunction with AERA. In our regularly scheduled Board meeting on Tuesday, September 27, the RWD General Manager Ken Deck stated that the RWD did not need the water we were proposing to “wheel” for RWD to provide sufficient water to any development in his district. He said that he could always purchase more expensive MWD water. I have heard that this agreement has been approved by a 5-0 vote of the LHHCWD Board. Why do you say it has not been approved? Our Board has voted unanimously to authorize our General Manager to continue negotiations with RWD, but until a final version of the agreement is actually signed by RWD, LHHCWD and Orchard Dale Water District (OWD), it has not been approved.
LHHCWD and OWD signed an agreement in 1957 that allows ODW capacity within LHHCWD infrastructure to move their water rights in Central Basin to their system. The agreement specifies that LHHCWD owns the infrastructure but is required to move Orchard Dale’s water through our infrastructure in a cost sharing agreement. It is similar in some ways to the agreement we are currently negotiating with RWD.
No, RWD plans to purchase or lease water rights in the Central Basin and pay LHHCWD to move the water through our infrastructure to a metered pipeline which they will construct for this purpose. The water we are moving for them is exactly the same as the water we are currently providing to district customers. We are a tiny customer in the Central Basin. The Central Basin has over 250,000 acre feet of water being extracted per year. Our share (2,596 acre feet per year) is about 1% of the total water moved in the basin, and the water we would wheel for RWD (expected to be approximately 2,000 acre feet) would be less. The Water Replenishment District of Southern California is in charge of making sure that sufficient recharge is occurring to maintain the quality and quantity of groundwater in the region. It is not possible for RWD to impact the available supply of water available in the Central Basin with this agreement. Remember, they are not buying our water rights, they are purchasing their own water.
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Paid for by 2011 Committee to Elect Pamela McVicar to Board of Directors, LHHCWD ID#1341485