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8
MONTECITO JOURNAL
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
If you have something you think Montecito should know about, or wish to respond to something you read in the Journal, we want to hear from you. Please send all such correspondence to: Montecito Journal, Letters to the Editor, 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite H, Montecito, CA. 93108. You can also FAX such mail to: (805) 969-6654, or E-mail to jim@montecitojournal.net
Expensive Water
T
he five current Montecito Water District directors, who raised over $200,000 in campaign funds to help get elected, are close to finalizing a 50 years agreement with the City of Santa Barbara to purchase some of its desal water that could cost the 4,600 Montecito Water District customers about one quarter of a billion dollars. For at least 100 years Montecito has had about 20 years of normal rainfall followed and interspersed by 6 to 8 years of drought. When the drought ended in 1991, the next drought started about 20 years later. In 2017 and again this year we had lots of rain. The five new directors will shortly have to decide if it is reasonable to greatly increase everyone’s water bill if the drought only occurs about a quarter of the time. During droughts, the Water District directors have to acquire more water. This is expensive. But must all customers’ bills increase by about $100 a month for 50 years? This is what I believe the five new directors may do. They ran on a platform of water security. But no mention of cost. They were going to acquire City desalinated water and use recycled waste water for irrigation. Prior Water District boards looked at these two items and felt they didn’t make economic sense. My belief is that, in large part, this changed due to an associate editor of the Montecito Journal. When the prior board initiated rationing during the last drought, (there is less water to sell, but expenses stay the same or increase), this associate editor stated that he lost new landscaping that had cost him a very large sum of money. After that he wrote many articles favoring a new board, and helped recruit, and raise campaign funds to help get them elected. I have not seen the new proposed desal contract, but there were items in the agreed to term sheet that I feel are bad for our community. 1) The City can provide Montecito water from any source. So that in 20 years of normal rainfall times, the City can deliver cheap Lake Cachuma water, but Montecito pays the much more expensive price of desal water. 2) Montecito will pay over 64.6% of the multimillion dollar cost of the pipe to bring water from the City’s desal plant up to where it can be moved to both Montecito’s and the City’s delivery systems. If Montecito is the only
“It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we must do what is required.” – Winston S. Churchill
one using the pipe, it should pay for the entire cost. But the City wants it big enough to move all of its potential 10,000 acre feet of desal water so that if and when the City needs to use this water, the pipe is there. Montecito will have about 14.3% of the desal capacity. So that when the City starts using the pipe, potentially up to 85.7% of it, they should pay their fair share. 3) After 25 years the City can cancel the contract. 4) Montecito pays a full set percentage of almost all past and current desal costs as though it is a partner; but it has no voice or ownership in anything. This is owed even if the City adds new desal customers. I suspect the City is delighted with the terms of the proposed contract. But Montecito would be better off not entering into the contract if it has terms such as above, and instead, simply raising rates to buy expensive water during future droughts, and rationing when necessary. Richard Shaikewitz Former Montecito Water District Director
In Concert
(from left) Violinist Paul Huang with Bob and Chris Emmons, on board Hiroko Benko’s Condor Express enjoying a recent whale-watching expedition
I hope this email finds you in good spirit and that you are enjoying the spring season. As the 2018-19 season slowly comes to an end, I’d like to send this season greetings to all of you and to share with you some of the summer concert highlights coming up. This summer l will begin with a Far East trip where I’ll return to
LETTERS Page 204 23 – 30 May 2019