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closeOf all the tasks a Cambria Community Services District director is called upon to perform, none is more challenging and unpleasant than proposing water and sewer rate increases to the community. With the economic downturn that has affected so many of us this year, raising water and sewer rates is particularly difficult.
Like so many communities in California, we find ourselves facing harsh realities.
Cambria is in the third year of a drought. In order to get by on our very limited water supply, conservation has been a top priority. Stretching Cambria’s razor thin water supply is essential for survival of the community. Always rising to meet our water supply challenges, Cambrians use less water per capita than nearly every other community in the state. We should all be proud of the results.
Unfortunately, there is a price that comes with frugal use of our water resources. Water sales constitute the primary source of funds to operate the town’s water system.
Since use of the sewer treatment plant and other sewer infrastructure is directly related to water consumption, the amount of water we all use (or don’t use) impacts the amount of fees collected to treat the sewage we produce. The net impact is less revenue to operate the two systems.
To compound the problem of flagging revenues, the district must begin replenishing depleted financial reserves. There is enough money in the district’s reserves to handle unanticipated emergencies; however, we are lagging far behind in funds available to replace aging infrastructure.
Reserves that were on hand for that purpose (the amount was grossly exaggerated in a recent Viewpoint article) have been spent:
• To increase water storage for fire safety (Pine Knolls water tank replacement project);
• Resolve water pressure deficiencies on Park Hill (Fiscalini Ranch Preserve water pipe project);
• Design of the Stuart Street water tank project and Rodeo Grounds pump station replacement (both fire-safety related projects);
• Construction of a biosolids dewatering facility (to cut sewer treatment costs by reducing the volume and weight of sludge that must be trucked to landfills), and other essential projects.
There are long-term financial solutions that can be implemented by the district when the water and sewer hook-up moratorium is lifted and the limited number of positions on the water wait list are permitted to build.
Connection and other fees that the district is permitted to collect will provide long-term financial stability.
The district Board of Directors and staff are actively pursuing a solution to the water supply problem that will end the moratorium. Federal funds are available to cover the cost of design and environmental work required in advance of construction of a project. In the meantime, the financial burden falls on all of us who live and own businesses in Cambria to sustain the essential water and sewer infrastructure we cannot do without.
Greg Sanders is one of five Cambria Community Services District directors.
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