PUD discussing water rate hikes

Wahkiakum PUD commissioners spent the bulk of their May 18 meeting discussing water rates.

PUD Auditor Erin Wilson presented proposals for rate increases for water system customers on both sides of K.M. Mountain.

For the Western Wahkiakum Water System, the proposed rate increase is $6 per month beginning in July or August and additionally $3 per month beginning January, 2011. The current monthly basic fee is $44.10 with a usage rate of $1.10 per 100 cubic feet.

The proposed rate increase for Puget Island customers is $3.25 per month beginning in July or August and $1.70 per month in January. The current basic fee is $32.84 and the usage rate is $1.87 per 100 cubic feet. Neither proposal specified how the rate increases would be divided between usage and basic fees.

Commissioner Larry Reese commented that the two systems are very different. Puget Island water customers drink water purchased and piped over the bridge from the town of Cathlamet, while water that Westend residents drink comes from wells owned by the Western Wahkiakum Water System in the Grays River valley. Due to that difference in infrastructure, Reese said he believed that the Puget Island system required a smaller reserve fund and that he would carefully assess the proposal with that fact in mind. He said he favored raising the rate on the basic fee.

Commissioner Esther Gregg stated that many Western Wahkiakum Water customers live on fixed incomes due to retirement and thus she favored implementing the $3 rate increase during the summer and applying the increase for usage charges rather than the basic fee.

Commissioner Bob Jungers highlighted a recent National Geographic article which leads him to believe that local water rates are far below the U.S. average.

Wilson reported that a Department of Health program requires the commissioners to approve water use efficiency goals and measures for both the Puget Island and Western Wahkiakum water systems and that PUD staff have begun to prepare their recommended goals. Public comment sessions will be held in both Rosburg and Cathlamet on June 17 to offer water system customers an opportunity to respond.