Candidate for
Director; Soquel Creek Water District

Your Water District is a government agency, responsible to the public for the local water utility. As government officials, we have a duty to spend our ratepayer's money wisely to safeguard our water supply, provide water of the highest purity and prevent seawater from ruining more wells.

Your District is financially sound, with $8 million in reserves and a good income to debt ratio. The District's financial health is independently assessed by a bond rating agency, which has awarded its high rating, allowing the District to borrow at favorable interest rates. When rates were low during the financial crisis, the District borrowed necessary funds at a very low rate, to save ratepayers on future interest expenses. Your Board reviews expenses every month to make sure no money is wasted.

We board directors all live within the District and pay our water bills just like everyone else. We do not like to see rate increases, but unfortunately, recent increases have been unavoidable.

We are paying now for action taken by past boards starting in the early 1980s before we joined the board. From then until about 12 years ago when Dr. Jaffe and others formed a new board majority, the policy was one of heedless overpumping, draining our aquifers. For 20 years the water deficit kept increasing and no measures were taken to protect water for today and future generations. Now the bill has come due, and the water deficit must be repaid by replenishing the aquifers. This has involved expensive projects such as coastal monitoring wells to track relentless seawater intrusion, building new wells inland, farther from the threatened coast, and scientific studies to understand our water crisis and plan the solutions.

Ironically, our success as a community in conserving water affects rates. When we save water, the income to the District declines. However, the expenses to run the District do not change much, since only 6% of costs vary with water pumped. To maintain a level income, rates rise as a result. However, your bill might not change. For example, if you conserve 20% and rates also rise the same 20%, your bill stays the same. In recent months, due to our success in conservation during the drought, water savings have been more than 20%.

Water rates vary enormously throughout the state. Each agency has unique sources of water, and differing costs of extraction, treatment and delivery. Your District has access only to limited groundwater from wells until a supplemental supply is built. Comparing water rates with neighboring agencies is not useful, because of these differences in local conditions.

The District funds only necessary programs to provide pure water now and assure water availability for the future. The complete solution includes conservation, supplemental supply, and making sure new demand does not impact existing customers.

While solving our water shortage is expensive, far more expensive in the longer run would be returning to the heedless overpumping of the past. Then more public and private wells would be ruined, our water supply would be lost, and the local economy and our way of life devastated.

Count on Dr. Bruce Jaffe and Rick Meyer to keep up their effective financial stewardship.