Council Recap: City succeeds in effort to keep regional water cost low

Published on May 10, 2023

At their regular Tuesday evening meeting, the Lakewood City Council received an update from staff on the city’s efforts to persuade the Water Replenishment District to reduce a proposed 8.7% rate increase for the use of water from aquifers under Lakewood and southeast L.A. County. That charge would have been passed along to residential and business water customers served by the City of Lakewood Water Department, the Golden State Water Co. (in eastern Lakewood) and dozens of other water agencies in the area.

A Lakewood-led regional effort succeeded in convincing the WRD Board of Directors to agree to a lesser increase of 3.1% and to work with cities and water agencies on a process for broader input for determining any rate increases in the future.

The WRD oversees and manages the groundwater basin in southeast L.A. County. Lakewood is fortunate to derive all of its water from aquifers under Lakewood that are part of the local basin, safeguarding the city from having to buy expensive and often-limited “imported” water from the Colorado River or Northern California.

“The WRD plays an important role in overseeing our local groundwater basin,” said Lakewood City Manager Thaddeus McCormack. “But the rates they set for withdrawing water from our basin must be reasonable and based on supportable data. A Budget Advisory Committee of water experts in the region determined that the WRD’s proposed 8.7% increase was just not supported by the data. We are pleased that the WRD Board changed direction for the agency and for water rates in the region.”

Lakewood Mayor Steve Croft and other local city and water officials spoke at a WRD Board meeting in early May that was followed by the WRD Board passing a much lower rate increase.

“We’re very fortunate to have the local water supply that we do in Lakewood,” said McCormack, “but we’re also very fortunate to have city staff and city council members who are experts and experienced in water policy to oversee our water system and to advocate for reasonable water policy in our region. That will go a long way towards keeping our local water supply in good, sustainable shape for the future for the use of the Lakewood water system, the Golden State Water Co. that serves eastern Lakewood, and other water agencies in our region.”