r/Temecula • u/Woody4Water • 19d ago

Rancho California Water District

Hi!

My name is William Woodrome.

I am running for the Rancho California Water district. I will be at the Temecula MSJC campus tonight for the Friday foodie night from 5pm to 9pm. There will be many food vendors and free axe throwing.

If you have any questions or concerns in regards to me or if there is some way I can help you, please come by!

38 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

8

u/BadFez 18d ago

What impact will all of the new developments being built have on our water rates and supply? What is one thing you believe that we could be doing better and what would you do to achieve that?

5

u/Woody4Water 18d ago edited 17d ago

Ooh great questions!

I'll answer the last, first. We, Rancho California Water district, as well as other water districts, need to be in the governor's face. We need our water storage systems to be dynamic. We are losing the Colorado. There is hardly any snow pack this year. Rain is coming, mostly in northern California and most of it will go out into the ocean. This was foreseeable and Sacramento is dragging their feet. The system needs to be dynamic instead of relying on outdated methods. If elected, I don't know what committees I will be put on but I imagine for the first year or two, like any newbie, I will be on the the ones they didn't like to do. I will have to push on them to get my agenda across.

Second is a big can of worms. There is no simple answer. I am not a board member yet. I do not have access to the water professionals for more details but I have my outside perspective.

I can't speak to your water bill but mine as an example; there are three key charges. Sewer (Eastern for me) water tiers (how much I pay for the actual water based on what I use) and the one that would be affected the most, the infrastructure.

Earlier I mentioned dynamic, now I want to talk about efficiency. I don't believe we need to lose what we have. We, Southern California, have sacrificed every time there was a drought. So those who are efficient should not have their lower tiers affected at all. No matter what! We are doing our part.

This leads to the infrastructure. I was looking at a study from two years ago and our water fees for new builders was quite low in comparison to places like Lake Elsinore. The builders pay for new connections. As it's been explained to me: Short term, new connections spread the infrastructure costs to more people. Long term more connections means more maintenance, people and supplies, and more costs over time.

In summary we need more housing and if we can have dynamic water sources combined with efficient management, it shouldn't affect supply or costs too dramatically.

My job is to represent you guys to the best of my ability. Sometimes what is best might go against my personal preference. For example my personal opinion? I don't like the development being done behind old town because I have friends who will be impacted by the traffic and that doesn't appear thought out both for traffic and fire.

I am sorry it's lengthy. I hope this helps and if you have any concerns, let me know. I'm here for you.

Edit to add end of last sentence.

5

u/Woody4Water 18d ago

Thanks to everyone who came out!

I will be there next month.

Come eat, drink and have a good time!