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Wednesday, July 30, 2008

942,000 Gallons; No Extra Charges

By Sean Olson
Journal Staff Writer
       Bernalillo County Commissioner Tim Cummins paid $1,745 to use more than 942,000 gallons of water for his Tanoan home in 2007, but he wasn't charged a single cent of extra charges that usually accompany high water use.
    The average residential use is about 100,000 gallons a year, costing $185.
    Cummins avoided the surcharge, which is meant to discourage heavy use, because his water consumption was very high in the winter months. The city-county water authority, on whose board Cummins sits, has a policy that bases summer surcharges on winter use. The surcharges only kick in when usage is three times or more what it was in December through March.
    Without surcharges, people pay about $1.38 per 748 gallons — or one water unit. The surcharge is 69 cents per unit.
    Cummins used 195,000 gallons in January, more than the average annual use for a home with a sprinkler system. It's unlikely he could use three times the winter amount in 2008, once January is included — meaning Cummins most likely won't pay surcharges in 2008 either.
    "That's something we have been trying to tweak for years because of that exact issue," City Councilor Michael Cadigan said. Cadigan also sits on the water board.
    A winter average allows the authority to see how much water a household consumes when it is not watering its lawn or for other outdoor use, Cadigan said. In the summer, excessive watering can be pinpointed using the average in normal cases, he said. In abnormal cases with high use, the system becomes a problem, he said.
    Water board Chairwoman Deanna Archuleta said the board needs to look into how to correct the policy.
    "There needs to be a severe penalty for those who consistently have high use," she said.
    Other board members were either at or below average residential water use from August 2007 through this month, with the exception of Cadigan and Councilor Trudy Jones. Annual Albuquerque averages for homes with sprinkler systems are between 120,000 and 140,000 gallons per year.
    Cadigan has been at the forefront of the water conservation push in Albuquerque and has sponsored controversial bills in the past year that would force conservation measures on commercial and residential properties.
    Cadigan's usage, about 217,000 gallons from August 2007 through June, was higher in the winter months but evened out to average levels in the summer. Cadigan said he does not know what caused his usage to go up in the winter, but said it couldn't have been a leak because his usage has dropped since. He said he has installed barrels to reuse rain water, given shower timers to his kids, installed the lowest-water-use toilets and that his lawn is xeriscaped.
    "I don't have a single blade of grass," he said.
    He does have a pool.
    Jones, who has used 252,000 gallons in the past 12 months, said she has a front lawn that is required by her Northeast Heights neighborhood association.
    "I don't know what else to say," Jones said. "We have a lawn. It stays green."
    Cummins said in a phone interview Monday that he had noticed high water bills over the past two years, but did not know how much water he was actually using due to usage billing being calculated with units and not gallons.
    Archuleta said Tuesday that all water bills include gallons and units every month.
    Cummins said he could not have used all 942,000 gallons in 2007 and suspected he had untreated leaks in his water system. He said he had fixed three leaks in the past year already. Cummins has a lawn, a pool and a fountain — but said the pool was not refilled in 2007 and when it is filled he trucks the water in from elsewhere.
    Water authority water conservation officer Katherine Yuhas said she speaks to many people who own pools and has never heard of anyone trucking in water.