MWD under fire

[Fishbreath]

The MWD is under fire for raising rates while undertaking numerous projects not directly related to the water supply, such as a new $3.8 million marina at DVL. Different constituencies obviously have different priorities.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/sep/27/analysis-flags-water-district-projects/?Watchdog

[Natural Lefty]

Fishbreath, do you mean that they are actually building the west marina now? If so, that is good news for us fisherpeople, not bad news, then.

[Fishbreath]

Apparently the marina project is on the books but not yet begun. There are also a projects on the books for an RV park and visitor center at the lake. The critics want to cancel or delay these projects if they are going to push rates higher. There would obviously be some revenue from the marina and RV park, but I don't know whether the MWD would have done a cost/benefit analysis or even care. From my observations they are powerful and seem to be immune to criticism. In the end I expect they will do as they please. I know there are a lot of people who would rather pay a couple of hundred dollars a month for a marina slip than pay that much to a storage facility and then have to go through the drill of getting it out of storage and driving to the lake and launching each time out. As a matter of disclosure, I know nothing that was not in the article for which I provided a link. I saw it in this morning's paper and thought you might be interested.

[DarkShadow]

If so, that is good news for us fisherpeople, not bad news, then.

I have no problems with projects that contribute to getting utility rates raised IF they benefit the majority of those individuals whose monthly bill will be larger and larger due to these projects.

If you can say that the same number of people who will be benefiting from a new marina is comparable to the number of people who MWD sends bills to, then yes, this is good news. But it seems to me that there's gonna be a lot of people whose water bill is gonna be higher, who will never even know where Diamond Valley Lake is, let alone utilize a marina there.

[HuskerRod]

For 3.8 million it would be one "helluva marina" for sure.

[Natural Lefty]

Darkshadow, I thought the original post was talking about increases in user fees for people who go to Diamond Valley for recreation. I didn't know it was water bill increases until I looked more closely. In that case, it may be a raw deal for those who don't go there.