Deal nears on Robbins water

Discussions about privatizing the money-bleeding Robbins water system could come by the end of the month, with Golden State Water Co. poised to take over.

Officials with the San Dimas-based company and Sutter County confirmed they plan to resume the talks in about three weeks.

Daniel Peterson, the county's water resources chief, announced the step last week to the Board of Supervisors.

The two sides have held up a sale of the water network in Water Works District No. 1, which serves some 400 people in Robbins, as the best hope of helping pay for years of neglect to the system without charging monthly rates near triple digits.

If the county and Golden State Water reach a buyout deal, the state Public Utilities Commission would have 18 months to decide whether to approve the pact. The deal would not include Robbins' sewage treatment service.

With fewer than 100 customers, the water system has slid into annual deficits reaching $120,000. Monthly rates that have not changed in more than a decade have starved the district of funds, leaving it unable to deal with failing pipes and higher-than-allowed arsenic levels.

A county plan to raise funds for repairs would have hiked the Robbins water charge to nearly $100 monthly per household, but more than 60 percent of residents turned it down in November. That leaves a private company as the system's only viable future owner, said Supervisor James Gallagher.

"I think it's pretty much a no-brainer," he said. "It's hard for counties to be in the water business, because there's often not the political will to charge for the (full) cost of water."

Golden State Water, a branch of American States Water Co., plans to ease the Robbins water system's fiscal woes by merging it with its network in Arden and Rancho Cordova, which serves about 16,000 customers.

A merger would bring economies of scale and make pipe, pump and filtration repairs affordable, according to Roland Tanner, a company vice president, who said Golden State likely would charge about $50 monthly per household for water service, a little more than double the current level.