Water rates to increase in Oklahoma City

[Larry OKC]

http://www.newsok.com/water-rates-to...adlines_widget

Water rates to increase in Oklahoma City
The average monthly water bill in Oklahoma City will go up $5 by 2013. (Oklahoman, 9/29/10)

Water rates in Oklahoma City will go up each October for four years, increasing from the current average bill of $42.63 a month to $47.52 a month in 2013.
The city council approved the increase Tuesday, with the first hike to appear on next month's bills. ...

Question is, is this to pay for the $15M we are overpaying (more than what was owed) on the Sardis water deal? Does this pay for the pipeline that is going to have to be built alongside the existing pipeline (not sure of the proposed cost but wouldn't be surprised if is multi-million)? Or, are we going to be hit with the cost of all of that in a couple of years...

I watched Tuesdays Council meeting and didn't catch that they were voting on the increase (thought this was the second round of public hearing). Is it a done deal as the article indicated?

[MustangGT]

All very good quesions.

[BBatesokc]

What I don't understand is why our water bill is always right at $60/month and its just the wife and I. We have those 5gallon refillable water bottles for drinking, don't take long showers and rarely water the lawn. I do water the flowers and garden about every other day (45 minutes).

[Larry OKC]

Someone who gets a water bill may be able to answer more fully (mine is included as part of the rent), but it is my understanding from what was mentioned during the council meeting, there is a "basic" flat fee charged just for being connected to the City line (doesn't matter if you use any water or not) then there is water usage which is where the bill could vary from month to month.

[Larry OKC]

[FONT="Arial"]WOW, the Sardis pipeline cost is even higher than I thought...

http://dailyme.com/story/20100927000...ater-plan.html

Edmond City Council to vote on water plan (Edmond Sun, 9/27/10)

Delivering the water with a pipeline and pump station to the metro by 2020 would cost the Oklahoma municipalities about $1 billion ...

(Edmond's) total share in the overall $2.4 billion Sardis project is $267 million .... No construction is proposed for the project until 2015.

[flintysooner]

As someone way too familiar with owning his own wells and pumps and related accessories I can assure you that the cost of municipality supplied water is a tremendous bargain.

[kevinpate]

What I don't understand is why our water bill is always right at $60/month and its just the wife and I. We have those 5gallon refillable water bottles for drinking, don't take long showers and rarely water the lawn. I do water the flowers and garden about every other day (45 minutes).

Though I am in Norman and thus it's a different system, our pricing is similar. Ours is the basic combo for water, trash container w/ weekly pickup and occasional special pickups, and sewer. We tend to fall below 60 monthly, but not by a lot. We rarely water. The lawn and such grow well, too well actually, without us encouraging more growth.

[flintysooner]

And lest it be overlooked for its commonplace and vulgar qualities I might add that someone taking care of your trash for you is also a bargain.

[windowphobe]

The old rate (in-city, residential) was a flat fee of $7.37 plus $2.15 per thousand gallons.

Of course, what we think of as the "water bill" includes sewer service, trash service, a "drainage fee" to cover stormwater handling, and (for some) a subscription to EMSA. Mine generally runs around $50.

[bombermwc]

I don't really get why they are doing this whole sardis thing isntead of finishing Draper with the Elm Creek section. They've been keeping the residential numbers low out there to be ready for it, so why not go for it instaed of having to bring water in from far away? I just dont get it.

[Wambo36]

Actually most of the water in Draper is pumped in from Atoka through a pipeline. To fill Elm Creek would probably take the same thing.

[bombermwc]

I guess I still don't understand why they don't just do that. If there is a pipeline already in place, just start filling Elm Creek when they start refilling Draper. Seems like it's a natural progression rather then having to construct a new line. Maybe I'm missing something....

[Wambo36]

If I understand correctly what they're doing, they are going to build a pipeline from Sardis to connect to the Atoka pipeline. I might be mistaken, but I don't think they are building a complete new pipeline to OKC. The reason it's needed is because they are barred from drawing the lake down below a certain level and therefore, to meet the expected water needs of the future, were looking for more capacity. The only way to do this, without drawing Atoka down too far, is to expand the reach to another body of water. Sardis was available at a relatively bargain price due to the state forfieting on the loan from the Corp of Engineers to build Sardis. Sort of like the county selling off tax forfieted property. The Corp has been trying to get their money back, since the state quit making payments in 1997, and the city was the one to step up and pay it.

The more interesting aspect of the deal is that everyone from the indian tribes to the state legislators from the SE part of the state are now crying fowl. They're claiming they should have the rights to the water. Funny thing, this loan forfieture has been going on for 13 years and none of them have offered to pay it.

[BG918]

Sardis is a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains. I've been camping around there.

[Wambo36]

It is one of the more scenic parts of the state. And the fishing on Sardis is very good. We used to fish tournaments there quite often.

[Larry OKC]

If I understand correctly what they're doing, they are going to build a pipeline from Sardis to connect to the Atoka pipeline. I might be mistaken, but I don't think they are building a complete new pipeline to OKC. The reason it's needed is because they are barred from drawing the lake down below a certain level and therefore, to meet the expected water needs of the future, were looking for more capacity. The only way to do this, without drawing Atoka down too far, is to expand the reach to another body of water. ...

The articles I've read indicated that a new pipeline is needed (instead of an extension/tapping into the existing pipeline) due to capacity issues (Atoka pipeline can't carry the volume of water needed). Since the cost is in excess of $2 BILLION, there sure better be a brand new pipeline!

Wouldn't it be cheaper to just build a new lake here??

[bombermwc]

That's what I was thinking with Elm Creek. it's been mapped out for years. Heck, look at the Moore Public schools district map and they have even had it on there for years.

[Plutonic Panda]

Oklahoma City Council sets public hearing on water rate increases | News OK

[gopokes88]

Kerry Decker · Follow · Top Commenter · University of Miami
This situation sums government up in a nut shell. Instead of fixing the problem with a simple free market-based solution they want to just throw money at the problem and make things more expensive for everyone. All they need to do is stop allowing new yards over 2,000 sq. feet. This won't impact existing home owners since they already have large yards and if new people to the area want a large yard they can buy one of the existing homes in the city which will help existing subdivisions get some much need reinvestment and upkeep. Instead of pricing current residents out of the market just keep new home owners from making the problem worse.

This is the problem with public hearings. Those are 2 are in 100% conflict with each other, and he clearly has no clue what a free market solution would be. Hint: free markets typically don't force change through government regulations, it let's consumer behavior dictate what happens.

A free market solution would be selling off the water to a private company and then the private company adjusts water rates based on supply and demand. So hot dry summers when water supplies are tight water is expensive and cool mild wet summers (like this one) water would be cheap. I don't see many people in favor of that.

[Zuplar]

The water isn't what I'm so concerned with, more like the trash. My water is $10 give or take, but the trash is $20. I don't have sewer out here, then there are some miscellaneous fees, so my bill is around $46 to $51.

[Plutonic Panda]

new yards should be 20,000 sq. feet if the builder desires it to be. Funny how controlling some want to be on literally everything.

[windowphobe]

What I want most out of the new rates is a tiered structure that says the guy who uses 50,000 gallons a month pays more than ten times as much as the guy who gets by on 5,000.

(My yard is 7200 square feet, if anyone cares.)

[betts]

What I want most out of the new rates is a tiered structure that says the guy who uses 50,000 gallons a month pays more than ten times as much as the guy who gets by on 5,000.

(My yard is 7200 square feet, if anyone cares.)

That makes the most sense to me. Prices increase as your usage increases. If you want it, pay through the nose for it. The market will then favor houses with smaller lots. Maybe we could get a few more skinny house neighborhoods. I was just in Chicago and love all their 25' lots with a garage on the alley and small backyard. My daughter's yard is just perfect in size.

[Plutonic Panda]

That makes the most sense to me. Prices increase as your usage increases. If you want it, pay through the nose for it. The market will then favor houses with smaller lots. Maybe we could get a few more skinny house neighborhoods. I was just in Chicago and love all their 25' lots with a garage on the alley and small backyard. My daughter's yard is just perfect in size.

So you want to try and force people to live on smaller lots. Gotcha

[mkjeeves]

I want to know exactly what the 2.1 billion is going to be spent on. They can't collect what they don't spend and put the excess somewhere else unrelated. A story from last year I found says the new pipe to SE Oklahoma is around 1 billion.

http://stateimpact.npr.org/oklahoma/...-be-1-billion/