Thanks to conservation efforts, water usage in the Sonoma Valley has dropped by 20 percent since 2007. As for conserving money on your water bill, no such luck.
Water customers in the county will see their bills rise seven percent, effective July 1. The move comes after the Sonoma County Water Agency, essentially the region’s water wholesaler, announced a five percent increase to its North Bay city and district customers, including the Valley of the Moon Water District.
The VOMWD, which serves 23,000 people in the unincorporated areas of Sonoma Valley, followed with its own hike. Even with the increase, water bills will be the second lowest among the region’s 17 water districts, according to General Manager Krishna Kumar.
Other increases to home and business users in the area range from two percent in Santa Rosa to an 11 percent boost for Novato.
The City of Sonoma raised its price to consumers by five percent earlier this year. Public Works Director Milenka Bates said although demand is down, the cost of operations, including replacing aging equipment and pipelines, remains high.
Kumar said that in addition to covering the increased wholesale cost, the local seven percent rate hike will fund two major infrastructure projects. Replacing water mains and pipeline are planned for El Verano, in the area of Railroad and Center, and also near Walnut and Penny.
Those projects will enter the design phase this summer, Kumar said.
Meanwhile, the Valley’s source reservoirs are in good shape, with Lake Sonoma at 100 percent capacity and Lake Mendocino at 90 percent.
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