Once again I ask for your vote. I will repay your confidence by
supporting policies based upon engineering excellence, following the
advice of professional engineers and water system experts, protecting
the environment, assuring fire safety, and by supporting policies that
manage the cost of water to provide the highest quality service and
product at the lowest possible price.
- Fire Safety is Not Negotiable:
Adequate water pressure and flow are key to fire safety. Fifty-five years
after the old pipeline was installed, fire safety standards, the number of
houses in forested areas, and the degree of El Granada forestation have
increased. The El Granada pipeline needs to be replaced. Replacing it will
NOT expand the system. It will not serve more customers, nor deliver
more water. Every Professional Water Engineer who has looked at the
design recommends a 16-inch gravity flow system. Why? Simply to meet
today's standards for water pressure and flow at fire hydrants. Gravity is
reliable, free and the required plumbing cheaper to install, maintain &
operate. Some say this is an expansion but since the only change is in
the pipe diameter, and not the number of customers served or the
amount of water delivered, that is a clear-cut distortion of the facts. It is
a fire safety issue, not a growth issue.
Professional water experts know their business; I trust their
judgment; FIRE SAFETY IS NOT NEGOTIABLE.
- Reliable Water at the Lowest Cost:
CCWD has the funds to replace the El Granada Pipeline and make other
overdue capital improvements. Low cost solutions such as gravity flow
work. We don't need to increase water rates or issue bonds. However, we
must be fiscally prudent and follow sound engineering practices to save
you, the customer, money.
Modern pipelines will last 50 to 150 years. Strangely enough, some
candidates would plan for infrastructural obsolescence in 20 years;
thereby needlessly increasing costs. These same people oppose
reclaiming and treating water from the sewer plant to water the golf
courses and cemetery or harvesting more water from local wells to
reduce the amount of water we purchase from Crystal Springs Hetch
Hetchy system. Reclaiming water and acquiring more local sources for
water will not expand the system; it will reduce the size of future water
rate increases, saving you money.
More than half the water we use today is purchased from the Hetch
Hetchy system. The price we pay for Hetch Hetchy water increased by
25% this year. There will be similar large increases each year for several
years to pay for needed improvements to the Hetch Hetchy system. We
can control our costs and limit our price increases by developing more
local sources for water. This is not a growth issue; it is sound fiscal
management. I will continue to support efforts to reduce our water bills.
- Water Not Politics:
The Water District Board does not control growth, set development
policy, or issue building permits nor should it usurp the responsibilities
of other state and community agencies charged with protecting the
environment. The water district must focus on providing safe, reliable
water for residential and commercial use and on protecting our homes
and businesses from fire. This can be accomplished without increasing
prices and without harming the environment or the economic viability of
our community. Three major employers in our community, agriculture,
tourism and schools, depend upon low cost water. I will take the politics
out of water and commit to reliable water at the lowest possible cost.
Recycling water and using more local sources are environmentally sound
& cost effective policies.
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