What are you doing to make our rates lower?

By Jane Eagle

Lots!

We could not have forseen all the mandates that came down after we got local control; and the Sonoma County Water Agency would have had to meet those mandates as well, but would not have looked for grants and forgivable loans to offset our costs. I walk around our new plant and I am blown away by how incredibly lucky - and blessed - we have been to have a genius guiding us...and finding grants and other funding sources for us that we do not have to pay.

As an UNPAID volunteer, I put in 10-20 hours most weeks, keeping up with procedures, mandates, communications, policy, financing and other important topics, looking for ways for us to save money. I, and the other Board members, do this because we are also ratepayers, and speaking for myself, I need to keep our rates as low as possible: I can barely afford them now.

Graton has almost finished construction of a new state of the art treatment plant, after the current Board brought in 11.5 million dollars in grants and other funds that the ratepayers do not have to pay for or pay back!

It's not just our rates folks, it's life on this planet that is at stake. We understand your frustration, we pay those rates too, we have suffered when they had to be raised and we've been angry when you wouldn't give us a hand - but do you really want to compromise on pollution, greenhouse gasses, fish, groundwater (our aquifers = our well water)? You see, nothing in our world stands alone: everything is connected. Removing our treated wastewater from our watershed lowers the water tables that our wells draw from; it lowers the water in our streams and creeks; toxic emissions from chlorine affect our air and soils.

Our rates, with a new plant that is already compliant with upcoming mandates, compare quite well with neighboring communities: Graton: $1,574 per ESD

Occidental: $1,682 and they don't even have a treatment plant or plan yet!

Forestville: $1,375.61 while their new Sonoma County Water Agency-designed plant is failing (and has had over 80 violations in the past 3 years; they will require HUGE rate increases to fix or rebuild it.)

In the light of truth, Graton is looking great, and at an unbelievably low cost to our ratepayers.