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11.30.98 M.U.D. walked a careful line Metropolitan Utilities District rate payers may have to swallow hard to accept yet another water rate increase in 1999. But the M.U.D. board has been following a sensible plan. The proposed increase would raise the average residential customer's annual water bill by $4.40, to $152.73. Rate payers have shouldered gradual but steady increases in the cost of water over the past 20 years. In 1975, the average price paid by an M.U.D. customer for 100 cubic feet of water was 38.14 cents. That rose to 97.06 cents through last year. That may sound like a lot, but if the rates had mirrored inflation, it would have been 17 percent higher. The reason for the increase is simple: the utility needs a new water plant to serve all of the new customers establishing households in Omaha and the surrounding area. The need is not desperate, but it has been growing more pressing in recent years. The utility has 161,000 water customers, with at least 2,500 new customers tapping into the system every year. The board began talking about constructing a new plant decades ago. A 1972 study urged M.U.D. to build a new supply facility by 1982 or face a water shortage. No plant, but no shortage either. Studies in 1987 and 1993 urged immediate action or else. "Or else" has not come yet. Many factors held off the crisis. While the number of people and households grew, the number of people per household grew smaller. Water-saving toilets and dishwashers helped. So did the popularity of smaller lawns and the growth of telemarketing and similar businesses that are not big water users. Leaders of the utility also worked hard to maintain and refurbish M.U.D.'s older facilities, enlarging the utility's water capacity. But now, finally, is the time, M.U.D. board members and officials have agreed. A federal permit has been applied for and is in the works. Construction could begin next year. And now, finally, their foresight is paying off. By raising the water rates little by little over the years, the board has managed to accumulate more than $50 million to serve as a down payment on the proposed $257 million water treatment plant, to be built near the Platte River west of Omaha. It will add 100 million gallons of daily water capacity to the 233 (234) million gallons already available. M.U.D. analysts said it will allow them to meet all water needs for almost the next 50 years. The savings account will help the utility get a favorable rate when it heads into the bond market to find financing for the Platte West Plant. Perhaps better, officials added, the gradual rate increases will mean customers won't receive a painful bump in their bills when it comes time to begin paying off the bonds. Rates will likely have to rise somewhat to meet the bonds, but not nearly as much as if no preliminary increases had been installed. So, while the latest proposed water rate increase might not be welcome to rate payers, the reason for it should be. If it is passed, it and previous rate increases will continue working to secure the quality and quantity of the future water supply for M.U.D. customers. That is what's important: plenty of fresh, clean water to help the community grow and prosper. |
Summer water use in metro area Construction Progress Photos Water Plant Wellfield: |
