Water rates rising.

Byline: The Register-Guard

The only troublesome aspect of the Eugene Water & Electric Board's 10-year water capital plan is that it probably should have been a 20-year plan that began at least a decade ago.

If EWEB officials had done a better job of anticipating the long-term needs of the aging water system, they would have realized at least that long ago, and probably earlier, that they would eventually need to replace hundreds of miles of pipes, upgrade the utility's reservoirs and expand its Hayden Bridge water treatment plant.

If a capital plan had been in place earlier, EWEB might have avoided the need for a thumping 20 percent increase in water rates next year, followed by single-digit rate increases in each of the next nine years. Over the next decade, water rates will nearly double for a typical residential customer, going from the current rate of $16.54 per month to an estimated $32.

However, the delay in developing a water capital plan is a minor quibble. It is far outweighed by the benefits of EWEB now having a comprehensive program in place that should ensure that current and future generations of utility customers will have a modern and reliable water system, one that hopefully will include a long-sought secondary water source.

While next year's 20 percent increase sounds prohibitive, the cost is unlikely to impose a hardship on most EWEB customers. The average residential customer's monthly water bill will increase by a mere $3.50.

Even with the increases, EWEB's water rates will still rank among the lowest in the state. While a typical residential customer in Eugene using 9,000 gallons per month will pay a water bill of approximately $20 next year under the plan, residential customers in Salem and Portland currently pay $26 and $31 respectively. Only Medford, with monthly rates of $10.61 (the result of large-scale water sales to rural irrigation districts that help keep city rates low), currently has lower water rates than EWEB.

Utility officials prudently plan to include all anticipated water cost increases in the 10-year program - from replacing aging water mains to securing a secondary water source - so there should be no surprise secondary rate increases.

EWEB customers can take solace in the fact that utilities across the nation are struggling with similar water system infrastructure problems. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that it will cost nearly $300 billion to bring the nation's water systems up to date.

Here in Eugene, the work has just begun.