Atascadero water bills could rise up to 7.5 percent next year

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• Residents get new rates for water use

  Residents get new rates for water use

  Water customers in Atascadero will see their monthly bills increase this week by an average of 7.5 percent. The Atascadero Mutual Water Company’s Board of Directors earlier this month adopted water rate hikes that include a surcharge for the Nacimiento Water Project after a previous funding plan fell through.

  Under the new rates, which went into effect Wednesday, the monthly water bill for an average single-family residential customer will increase from $44.45 to $48.15 per month while an average business user’s bill will increase from $54.99 to $56.68. An average single-family residence uses 11,000 gallons of water per month, while an average business uses 19,000 gallons, according to the utility. Tiers in the rate system encourage conservation, so those who use more water pay more.

  Increases for all users, minus fire connections, include a $2.50 surcharge per meter that the utility’s Board of Directors also approved to help fund the community’s share in the Nacimiento pipeline.

• CCSD directors explore pros, cons of thawing water freeze

  CCSD directors explore pros, cons of thawing water freeze

  Cambria services district directors agreed April 26 that they want a plan — soon — for how and if they can release a few water-service intent-to-serve letters each year without lifting the moratorium on those connections.

  The water-emergency declaration the Cambria Community Services District put into effect in November 2001 required that a new water source be online before permits could be issued again. A rough plan to release from 10 to 15 connections a year could be ready for directors to consider within a month or two, but would ultimately need approval from regulatory agencies, such as the California Coastal Commission.

  Allan MacKinnon, president of district’s Board of Directors, said in his presentation that the board that declared the water emergency in 2001 “did the right thing,” based on water-use projections at the time, but that the current directors have firm data from the past 10 years, data he said shows Cambrians use less water than expected.

• Water rate hike disputed by customers

  Water rate hike disputed by customers

  More than 100 people from as far away as Ojai packed the South Bay Community Center in Los Osos on Friday afternoon to protest hefty rate increases proposed by Golden State Water Co.

  The private water company has customers throughout the state and county, including in Los Osos, Edna Valley and Nipomo. It is proposing various rate increases depending on location, with some of the biggest for 3,300 customers in Los Osos and Edna Valley where rates would go up 48.9 percent for a typical home in 2013.

  The state Public Utilities Commission held the meeting to get customer feedback. It must approve any rate increase and expects to make a decision a year from now, said Administrative Law Judge Richard Smith, who is hearing the case.

• Grover Beach water rates to rise starting in April

  Grover Beach water rates to rise starting in April

  Water rates in Grover Beach will increase about 10 percent starting in April.

  The Grover Beach City Council voted 4-1 on Monday, with Councilwoman Phyllis Molnar dissenting, to raise water rates and establish a fee to pay for new state regulations to the city's storm water system.

  City officials have said the water rate increase is needed to cover basic operational and maintenance costs, re-establish a reserve fund and close an estimated $196,186 deficit in the water fund budget.

• Water needs, skate park on CCSD agenda

  Water needs, skate park on CCSD agenda

  F rom skateboard-park safety rules to mid-year budgets, and “quality of life” baseline water increases to goals for 2012, services district directors in Cambria have a diverse range of topics to consider at a meeting starting at 12:30 p.m. today, March 22, at the Veterans Memorial Building, 1000 Main St.

  The Cambria Community Services District board in 2004 added a 50 percent “quality of life” contingency to its Water Master Plan to help determine how much more water the community might need from a supplemental source of water, such as a desalination plant.

  The contingency increased the maximum average residential water use per two-month period to 18 units from 12. A unit is 748 gallons.