Irvine Ranch Water District Approves New Budget
Each year, the IRWD Board of Directors adopts an annual operating budget that goes into effect on July 1. Part of that process is setting water and sewer rates. One of IRWD’s critical business objectives is to keep costs, and therefore rates, as low as possible for all our customers. IRWD provides the highest level of service to our customers at the lowest possible rates.
The 2014–2015 fiscal year began on July 1, putting in place a new budget approved by the
Board of Directors at its April 28 meeting. This year’s budget, which totals $130.6 million, represents a $13.6 million increase when compared to the prior year’s budget.
The operating budget provides the funding roadmap to provide drinking water, recycled water and sewer service to IRWD customers. Increases in rates and charges for these services took effect on July 1, with an overall increase to the average residential customer of $3.21 per month, for sewer and water service combined. For full information on all new rates and charges, please visit the IRWD website.
Why are Rate Changes Necessary?
The main reasons for the change are due to uncontrollable cost increases from:
- The need to purchase more expensive imported water as a result of drier conditions
- 12% increase in electricity costs for pumping and treating water
- 3.8 % increase in the charges for imported water provided from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) for imported water purchases through our regional wholesaler the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC)
- 6.5% increase in pumping charges from the Orange County Water District (OCWD) for local groundwater.
Residential Rate Structue Changes
Effective July 1, 2014 you may notice changes in your water bill. Your monthly water budget has changed, slightly reducing your indoor water allocation from 55 to 50 gallons per day per person. The outdoor portion of the allocation is unchanged. We have also adjusted the tiered rate structure to reduce the Inefficient, Excessive and Wasteful tiers.
Visit the San Joaquin Marsh in the Summertime
If it’s been a while since you have visited IRWD’s San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, there is no time like the summer to experience this urban gem.
The Marsh is a reconstructed wetland designed to clean urban runoff from the San Diego Creek before it reaches the environmentally sensitive Upper Newport Bay. Besides enhancing water quality, the Marsh provides a home to some 200 species of birds and other wildlife throughout the year in a park-like setting.
The Marsh contains more than 12 miles of meandering hiking trails on approximately 320 acres and is open 365 days a year, dawn to dusk. Best of all, a visit to the Marsh is free!
Visitors are encouraged to bring binoculars for bird watching. But there are other animals that might be seen, as well. Bobcats should not be confused with the more dangerous mountain lions. There is at least one litter of bobcat kittens born in the Marsh each spring, where there is plenty of food available to keep them happy.
The Sea and Sage Audubon House is a great resource for Marsh visitors. You can sign up to participate in a variety of programs, or if you forgot your binoculars, you can check out a pair.
And don’t miss the Marsh’s butterfly garden behind the historic Duck Club. The butterfly garden was built in 2005 and comes to life during the summer. Butterflies have begun to make their appearances.
All along the Marsh trails, you might notice the little birdhouses perched on metal poles next to the ponds. These were placed into the Marsh in the late 1990s to attract tree swallows. There are more than 100 of them dotted throughout the Marsh and they are monitored by volunteers from Sea and Sage Audubon. During the summers, hikers on the trails might be treated to the site of a mother swallow feeding her chicks as they poke their beaks out of the birdhouse opening.
The Marsh is located off Campus Drive on Riparian View in Irvine. Follow Riparian View to the Marsh driveway on the left. More information about the Marsh and a map to the site is available on our website.
Curious About the Drought? We Have Answers!
You can’t turn on the television news, or pick up a newspaper and not see headlines about the California drought. How does this affect me and what can I do about it, you might ask.
Well, we can help you find the answers. Irvine Ranch Water District has a panel of experts who can talk about the drought, but a host of other issues as well.
There is no charge for speaker appearances. Booking a speaker for your organization is as easy as contacting IRWD at (949) 453-5500 and discussing the date, time, location and topic. We are happy to present to your community group, service club, homeowner’s association, school group, non-profit group, or professional association.
The IRWD Speaker’s Bureau can book a speaker for your organization to discuss a range of topics, including:
- Money-saving water conservation ideas
- Water efficiency gardens and plant selection
- Water quality issues
- Environmental stewardship
- Recycled water use
- State water issues and the Bay/Delta
- Bottled Water Versus Tap Water and more
Please visit our website for more information about the IRWD Speaker’s Bureau.
2014 IRWD Resident Tours Highlight Expanded Water Recycling Plant
The water awareness resident tours are designed to not only inform our customers about where their water comes from, where it goes after going down the drain and how to conserve this precious resource, participants are also treated to up close and personal views of IRWD infrastructure.
Our recently completed spring tours featured our newly expanded Michelson Water Recycling Plant and an old favorite for our visitors – the San Joaquin Recycled Water Reservoir.
Tours of MWRP were suspended in fall 2009, when the massive expansion project began. The plant now includes a membrane bioreactor with two aeration basins and eight process trains, which produces high-quality water ready for disinfection and reuse. In addition, the new ultra-violet disinfection system treats water cleaned in the MBR by flowing the water past ultra-violet light tubes. The expansion allows IRWD to treat up to 28 million gallons of sewage per day.
IRWD has conducted tours for our residents and those who work in our service area for more than 20 years.
A sample of comments received from the most recent attendees:
- The tour helped to supplement and reinforce information given by the speakers
- This was an excellent tour. It’s accessible and the tour staff was helpful. I would recommend it to others!
- I enjoyed the Water Quality Lab demonstration
- I will tell my friends and neighbors about this tour
- The San Joaquin Marsh is beautiful! I never knew it was there. I will come back and visit with my family.
More information on our tour program is available on our website.
All You Ever Wanted to Know About IRWD Water Reliability is on Video
The new IRWD Water Reliability video shows our strong commitment to maintaining a diversified water supply and making sure water flows from your tap at all times. View the full video at youtube.com/IrvineRanchWD.
Through thoughtful planning and prudent fiscal policies, we cost-effectively manage our water resources, while continuing to diversify supplies to enhance future reliability.
IRWD boasts a highly diverse water supply, using local groundwater, recycled water and water banking to reduce our dependence on costly imported water.
In 1990, imported water made up approximately 64 percent of IRWD’s water supply; today, it accounts for only 28 percent.
Reducing the District’s reliance on imported water:
- Protects IRWD customers from statewide supply fluctuations
- Keeps costs low
- Reduces our carbon footprint by decreasing the amount of imported water moved across the state to meet IRWD demands
- Helps reduce demand on the environmentally sensitive Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Ecological protection and restoration of the Delta is vital to ensuring the health and reliability of California’s future water supply and economy.
Watch the full video at youtube.com/IrvineRanchWD.
