Countywide : Water Board Studies Yearly Rate Hikes

Casitas Municipal Water District officials are considering rate increases of 2.5% this year and for each of the next seven years. The rate increase would help pay for a $25-million filtration plant.

The directors are expected to approve a preliminary environmental assessment this week, which would mean that no further study of the plant’s environmental impact would be needed.

The district board will consider the rate increase at a meeting Wednesday. Officials are expected to set an April 25 hearing on the proposal.

The district’s main water source, Lake Casitas, often has higher sedimentation levels than are allowed by the state Department of Health Services. The department has ordered Casitas to reduce its turbidity level by Jan. 1, 1992.

The district plans to meet all new state and federal water quality standards by building a combination treatment, filtration and hydroelectric generating plant at the base of Casitas Dam near Foster Park.

Consultants are preparing an environmental study, expected in draft form this summer, and hearings will last through December. The plant would be operational by mid-1993.

The proposed water rate increases are expected to generate $2.6 million by 1997. The district has not decided how it can best raise the rest of the money for the plant. Other consultants are looking into financing methods such as a special assessment district.