Issues:
Water reliability and safety
Our water supply reliability has taken a giant leap forward in Zone 3 (Alta to Meadow Vista) in the past six years. Millions of dollars are now being spent every year to upgrade and replace the old PG&E pipes and flumes. This comes with sacrifice; monthly bills have gone up over the past five years. But next year bills will come down. Here's the story.
The PCWA water system from Alta to Meadow Vista was purchased in 1986 from PG&E, who had run the system since the turn of the last century (Bear River Awakening) . The system was in desperate need of repairs. In 2000, the PCWA Board initiated a dedicated fund called "Renewal and Replacement" to address this problem of aging infrastructure. You'll see it on your water bill if you are a customer. This monthly charge started at zero and is now approaching $15 per month. This was one of the hardest decisions we've had to face as a Board. But without fixing the aging pipes and flumes, we all were facing a much worse fate. Literally, the system needs to be replaced from top to bottom. And now, because everyone using the system is contributing to its renewal and replacement through the monthly water bill, we have stabilized maintenance and operations and focused on system replacement for long term reliability instead of just fixing leaks on ancient pipe.
How will this affect rates in future? Interestingly, rates in Zone 3 will be going down this year. See Water rates and affordability for that part of the story.
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