Yuba City expands water meter assessment window

The water meters go in and the gallons start ticking away.

As Yuba City works to install about 3,100 water meters in the former Hillcrest water system, residents will have six months from completion of installation to assess their water usage before surface-water metered billing kicks in.

The City Council voted this week to provide the 180-day window so that high-volume users will be able to recognize their consumption and adjust if necessary.

The metered billing should help bring water expenses in the former Hillcrest water district out of the red and drive an increase in water conservation, said Ian Pietz, senior engineer with the city's Utilities Department. The bills that newly metered residents receive will show their flat groundwater rate, along with their water consumption and what would be the metered rate.

James Bowden watched as a meter was installed in front of his Richards Way home Wednesday.

Bowden anticipated he will pay twice as much per month on his quarter-acre lot with its lush green lawns and swimming pool. They will be among the first to go if he has to make cutbacks, he said.

"I'm gonna survive before that lawn is," Bowden said. "I'm gonna take care of my family first."

The city has worked for months on its groundwater-to-surface water conversion for former Hillcrest users. Installation should be complete by August. An average of 35 meters are being installed daily.

Several residents spoke out Tuesday night at the council meeting, saying a two-month time period staff initially proposed was not sufficient enough to assess use.

Janet Baur said many residents face hikes in tax, insurance, medical and other utility costs with no increases in income. Customers who are going to have to spend money to curb water usage need more than a few months to repair, she said.

"If I survive the heart attack of what one woman told me her bill was after metered billing, then I need to decide what I am going to do," said resident Elaine Miles.

Some residents have bills in the triple-digits, Pietz said. But for $100, residents could fill an average swimming pool 41⁄2 times, he said.

Flat-rate groundwater service customers pay $20.69 per month. The average bills for metered groundwater and surface water customers should be about $24 once the rates take effect, he said.

Water conservation is another motivation for metering, since it is one of the only ways to curb excessive water use, Pietz said.

In Yuba City, unmetered groundwater users are using about 50 percent more water than metered surface water recipients, he said. Statewide, a 30 percent drop in water use is usually seen when meters are installed.

Residents on Tuesday asked for a 12-month billing delay to assess and adjust water usage, pointing to other cities with similar delays.

The council agreed six months was a sufficient enough gap between installation and billing. Members reminded residents that Yuba City's $500 cost to each resident for meter installation was eliminated last summer when the Utilities Department received a $3.5 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant to cover the expense of meter purchase and installation.

State law requires all water suppliers to install water meters on all customer connections by Jan. 1, 2025.

CONTACT Ashley Gebb at 749-4724 or agebb@appealdemocrat.com.