Water Replenishment District Adopts Budget for 2008-2009 Fiscal Year and Replenishment Assessment

The Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD), which provides groundwater for 11% of the state's population, has approved a 2.7% increase in its groundwater pumping rate for the next fiscal year. This small increase is even more impressive when compared to the 14% price increase for water imported into the Los Angeles region. The price of groundwater pumping, including the cost of operating and maintaining the wells, is less than half the price of imported water. This means that the cost of groundwater continues to be the best bargain in drinking water.

WRD Board President Rob Katherman said, "WRD's strategy to increase the use of recycled water and the capture and spreading of local rainfall runoff has proved to be very cost effective in reducing the need to buy increasingly scarce and expensive imported water." This strategy has utilized groundwater aquifers beneath our feet to provide low cost secure water storage without the need to build expensive surface water reservoirs. Groundwater also provides an emergency supply to protect us from drought and natural disasters which might disrupt water deliveries from Northern California or the Colorado River. In the coming year, WRD will be using over 70,000 acre-feet of locally available water instead of MWD imported water. This reliance on local water tempers the effect of any MWD rate increases. Despite rate increases of 14% at other water agencies WRD's 2008/09 increase was limited to 2.7% due to the District's ongoing efforts to reduce reliance on imported water for groundwater basin management.

WRD encourages everyone in Southern California to do their part to use water wisely by conserving in any way possible. Using less water allows us to nurture the supplies that we currently have.

Voters established WRD in 1959 to manage groundwater for nearly four million residents in 43 cities throughout southern Los Angeles County.