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Can someone explain why raising water rates is not a logical solution to this problem? The primary reason why Californian water utilities don't have the resourc

Can someone explain why raising water rates is not a logical solution to this problem? The primary reason why Californian water utilities don't have the resources to invest in large scale reclaimation projects must be related to not charging enough enough for the product. Furthermore, water availability is far more important than water affordability. I'm reading George Gilder's book The Israel Test, and the Israelis have made enormous improvements in the desert to sustainably farm with advanced greenhouses, and they have pioneered desalination methods. I don't know how Californian water utilities operate, but I presume that increased fees from water consumption would go directly toward improving the water acquisition and distribution network. Now, there isn't much that can be done about private wells, but responsible water management across the state (farms) will reduce draw down and lengthen the lives of these wells. EDIT: I see the major issue being that farms probably have private wells anyway, so utility regulation does nothing. Also, well regulation or raising rates would not put most farms out of business, but change farming practices. Total loss of water access puts farms out of business. This argument misses the big picture. Its all moot of farms can dig wells as they please. The state is seeking to implement controls. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/01/us/politics/desperately-dry-california-tries-to-curb-private-drilling-for-water.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/01/us/politics/desperately-dr...

conistonwater 12y ago
From an economics point of view, it matters whether the water utility has a monopoly. If the people who would end up paying the higher rates have difficulty switching to a different competitor utility, then the incentive to invest in providing more water cheaper is not there. This is generally why many basic utilities, like water and electricity are highly regulated. I don't know much about California's water utilities though, so maybe the competition is in fact there.
- ethagknight 12y ago
  Valid point, but you are implying market rate, or what someone is willing to pay for an item. I am merely suggesting that the water rate reflect the cost of goods sold, where that cost includes the implementation of a more robust and sustainable network to prevent bone dry water sources. No market gouging, just proper long term planning.
dalke 12y ago
Sounds great, if I have a private well. (The people in this article have a private well.) It forces everyone else to pay for higher water rates so that my free well has more water. Therefore, won't increasing the rates simply encourage more people to build a private well and avoid the fees when, say, watering the lawn? In Israel, the public, through the government, owns the water sources. A quick and shallow search finds https://wrrc.arizona.edu/awr/f09/ownership https://wrrc.arizona.edu/awr/f09/ownership : > Schorr believes that the Israeli system, at least in theory, is ideally suited to protect the natural environment. Environmental woes, however, beset the country. Due to falling water tables or surface diversions nearly all the streams, including the Jordan below the Sea of Galilee, have been dried up. Some serve as sewage canals causing extensive damage to flora and fauna, The levels of the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee are dropping precipitously. Falling water tables in the Coastal Aquifer have caused saltwater incursions. Clearly there is a theory-practice disconnect in Israeli water law. ... > He finds that the public food is generally motivating Israeli water policy less than the interest of a particular sector: agriculture. The state might officially own water, but officials are allocating the water in response to agricultural interests. I know nothing of the veracity of that statement.
pjc50 12y ago
Raising the water rate would reduce water usage by putting a large number of farms out of business in the short term, which is politically fraught. Or they'd get an exemption and the brunt would fall on residential use of water which is comparatively small.
- seanflyon 12y ago
  I think we should gradually raise the cost of water, especially to farms that pay orders of magnitude less than residential. If rice farmers can't stay in business if we reduce water subsidies then they should go out of business.
kjs3 12y ago
I would note that Isreal has a total land area of around 21,000 km^2. California has 400,000 km^2 of land, and has about 175,000 km^2 of of agricultural land alone. While there is sure to be something to be learned from the Israeli experience, there's no reason to believe that those lessons scale to the size of the problem CA has. In particular, things like use of greenhouses on commiserate scale is probably infeasible.

conistonwater 12y ago

From an economics point of view, it matters whether the water utility has a monopoly. If the people who would end up paying the higher rates have difficulty switching to a different competitor utility, then the incentive to invest in providing more water cheaper is not there. This is generally why many basic utilities, like water and electricity are highly regulated. I don't know much about California's water utilities though, so maybe the competition is in fact there.

ethagknight 12y ago
Valid point, but you are implying market rate, or what someone is willing to pay for an item. I am merely suggesting that the water rate reflect the cost of goods sold, where that cost includes the implementation of a more robust and sustainable network to prevent bone dry water sources. No market gouging, just proper long term planning.

dalke 12y ago

Sounds great, if I have a private well. (The people in this article have a private well.) It forces everyone else to pay for higher water rates so that my free well has more water. Therefore, won't increasing the rates simply encourage more people to build a private well and avoid the fees when, say, watering the lawn? In Israel, the public, through the government, owns the water sources. A quick and shallow search finds https://wrrc.arizona.edu/awr/f09/ownership https://wrrc.arizona.edu/awr/f09/ownership : > Schorr believes that the Israeli system, at least in theory, is ideally suited to protect the natural environment. Environmental woes, however, beset the country. Due to falling water tables or surface diversions nearly all the streams, including the Jordan below the Sea of Galilee, have been dried up. Some serve as sewage canals causing extensive damage to flora and fauna, The levels of the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee are dropping precipitously. Falling water tables in the Coastal Aquifer have caused saltwater incursions. Clearly there is a theory-practice disconnect in Israeli water law. ... > He finds that the public food is generally motivating Israeli water policy less than the interest of a particular sector: agriculture. The state might officially own water, but officials are allocating the water in response to agricultural interests. I know nothing of the veracity of that statement.

pjc50 12y ago

Raising the water rate would reduce water usage by putting a large number of farms out of business in the short term, which is politically fraught. Or they'd get an exemption and the brunt would fall on residential use of water which is comparatively small.

seanflyon 12y ago
I think we should gradually raise the cost of water, especially to farms that pay orders of magnitude less than residential. If rice farmers can't stay in business if we reduce water subsidies then they should go out of business.

kjs3 12y ago

I would note that Isreal has a total land area of around 21,000 km^2. California has 400,000 km^2 of land, and has about 175,000 km^2 of of agricultural land alone. While there is sure to be something to be learned from the Israeli experience, there's no reason to believe that those lessons scale to the size of the problem CA has. In particular, things like use of greenhouses on commiserate scale is probably infeasible.