A South Bay group facing increase recycled water rates are calling for changes to the billing system.
Though the rates have stayed the same for more than a decade, 50,000 customers are now facing a 4.4 percent hike, which translates to about $4 more a month for the average household.
According to the Otay Water District's General Manager Mark Watton, under the new proposal, their wholesale costs will more than double for the water they purchase from the city of San Diego. The city operates a recycled water system with two treatment plants: The North City and South Bay reclamation plants.
Brent Eidson, the deputy director of Public Utilities for San Diego, said there has always been a unitary rate for customers, which means no matter where they live, they pay the same amount.
But opponents, including a group called the Fair Water Rates Coalition, say there should be a zone rate.
Because residents in the South Bay get their recycled water from the Otay Water District's water recycling facility, the group believes they shouldn't have to pay for services at the North City facility.
“We understand that recycled water rates need to come up and raise to cover current costs,” said Watton. “We don’t think it’s fair and equitable to raise rates to cover the cost in North City. If we have rates assigned to cover the cost of the facility the city owns that we use, that’s fair."
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They say San Diego's rate hike will overcharge the Otay Water District, allowing the city to undercharge itself and subsidize rates for covered by the North City plant.
Eidson said the city needs to recover its costs by charging the same rate to everyone for recycled water.
“Yes there's a North City plant,” he said. “Yes there’s a South Bay plant, but they're interconnected and there's legal reasons why they are interconnected. So it’s one system and there’s a reason why it’s one rate.”
The San Diego City Council will vote on the proposed increase on Nov. 17.
