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Water meters on tap
Woodland Daily Democrat -
October
25,
2007
By Lizeth Cazares
Water meters on tap
Woodland Daily Democrat – 10/26/07
By Lizeth Cazares, staff writer
During a special session meeting Tuesday night, city staff informed the Woodland City Council about an upcoming citywide water meter installation.
The meters will be used to gauge the amount of water each house uses throughout the day, so the city can charge homes according to water consumption rather than on a flat rate. Woodland is required by state law to have all homes metered by 2025.
Since the installations will take place simultaneously with the Davis-Woodland Water Supply Project, staff decided to split the task up into two phases so that a fourth of Woodland homes will be metered by 2010.
Because of the two phases - and a legal requirement to begin charging households based on meter readings once installed - some councilmen had concerns about the fairness of water costs.
"It doesn't seem fair," said Councilman Jeff Monroe. "Some people won't be charged for continuing to wash down their driveways."
Doug Baxter, city civil engineer, said the staff will work to make it as fair as possible by charging metered homeowners a combination of flat fee and consumption-based rates.
While the project will be expensive, close to $12 million by 2020, staff estimates that increased conservation in the community will lower the need for water. Staff expects that with water conservation the city will not need to use two of its wells, saving more than $4 million in well repairs and maintenance.
The staff will continue to work and inform the council on this project in later meetings. #
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_7278250
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