Healdsburg City Leaders Approve Water, Sewer Bill Hikes

We’ve been hearing about big potential increases to our water and sewer bills for some months now — and it appears the time has come. The Healdsburg City Council approved a series of rate hikes at their meeting last week, amounting to an increase of around $34 per month in utility bills for the average Healdsburg resident, come August. And that’s just the first of the hikes. Local water bills will reportedly go up 21% this year, another 20% next year and and another 13% the year after that. As for wastewater bills, which cover sewage services: They’ll go up 18% both this year and next year, then another 15% the year after. Some locals are understandably upset. Healdsburg resident Paulina Lopez, a leading activist for the North Bay Jobs With Justice group, tells the Press Democrat that the new rates “will push farmworkers out of the city.” She says: “It’s quite outrageous, considering many of us in town are barely recovering from the negative financial impacts of the pandemic and continue to face the challenges of climate change.” Here’s some previous coverage from Healdsburg Tribune news editor Christian Kallen on why we’re seeing our bills go up: “Inflation, lower-than-projected water sales (or usage; much of the decline is based on revised water use habits in the wake of the extended drought), new water treatment requirements and the need to replace centuries-old water pipelines are all driving these increases, according to Terry Crowley, the city’s utilities director. ‘One of the many challenges facing the city’s water and wastewater departments is the amount of aging infrastructure serving our community,’ Crowley said. ‘There are roughly 120 miles of water and wastewater pipes buried underneath the city; enough pipe to reach the Golden Gate Bridge and travel back to Healdsburg. Many of these pipes, over a third, are more than 50 years old with some dating as far back as 1910. Adequate funding for the replacement of these pipes has not existed for many years, creating a backlog of deferred maintenance.'” Kallen also reports: “Another factor in the rate studies is a continued reliable source of water for Healdsburg customers. The current rates are based on water allocated from Russian River flows, in addition to local wells. But the river flows are expected to be reduced when the Potter Valley project is decommissioned or dismantled, as is already underway. … As a consequence, Healdsburg needs to find an alternative water source in the near future. Crowley and Raftelis are proposing accessing water from Lake Sonoma previously unavailable for city use through new wells in the Dry Creek Valley.” Read more in the Trib! (Source: Healdsburg Tribune & Healdsburg Tribune & City of Healdsburg & Press Democrat)