Learning from the past!

Ms. Brazier writes that concerned citizens must attend years of Rainbow meetings to understand the problems of the district. Not true; archived public records contain information that may change Ms. Brazier’s perspective of past Rainbow management. I suggest she begin by researching the results of the 2002 directors’ expense audit by the general manager.

I find it interesting that after all this time the actual cost of water escapes Ms. Brazier. There are two components contributing to the cost of water consumed by Rainbow ratepayers. One is the actual cost of imported water from MWD/SDCWA and the second is the operational cost to deliver the water (infrastructure, maintenance and administration).

First, the cost of water: MWD reduces the unit cost of water to agriculture users who agree to have their agriculture water turned off or interrupted when the water supply is limited (Village News 8/5/04 FPUD article).

I agree that the lower rate for interruptible water is not without risk. On the other hand, Rainbow passed the cost increase by SDCWA for water purchased from the Imperial Water District to ONLY un-interruptible water customers! That translates into an approximate $310,000 annual discount for the interruptible agricultural water users! I believe this is unfair to the majority of the Rainbow ratepayers (many on fixed incomes) and does not encourage conserving a precious resource. It is, however, another example of Rainbow subsidizing agriculture.

Second, the operational charges to customers are determined by meter sizes; smaller meters will deliver less water than the larger meters. Basic mathematics shows that it takes 36 one-inch pipes to equal the size (flow rate) of one six-inch pipe. Rainbow meter ratios disproportionately favor large meter sizes. The past Rainbow Board did make a small adjustment to the meter ratios, but a major disparity still exists and needs to be addressed. The disparity increases the cost for small meters and increases large meter subsidies! Why should fixed income ratepayers subsidize the larger meters? If Ms. Brazier feels agriculture needs subsidies, she can write them a check.