As Ventura Water project costs rise, city weighs rate increases
As estimated costs for Ventura's planned water recycling program mount, residents could see higher utility bills sooner than expected.
The Ventura City Council on Tuesday will consider whether to initiate a new rate study for water and wastewater services this summer — a year earlier than planned.
The proposal comes amid discussion of the latest cost projections for the massive VenturaWaterPure program. The project includes an advanced water purification facility and related infrastructure that will treat wastewater to drinking water standards, create a reliable new water supply and reduce discharges of effluent into the Santa Clara River estuary, officials say.
The updated price tag has ballooned to an estimated $672.2 million, a staff report shows, up by more than $115 million since the council discussed the project in November. November's projection, at $556.9 million, already marked a $182 million increase since 2022, when the estimate stood at $374.4 million.
"Costs prior to 2023 were engineering estimates that were lower than what we experienced with inflation," said Gina Dorrington, general manager for Ventura Water, in an email. "As the projects advanced through design, cost estimates were refined based on actual price quotes and inflationary factors."
Ventura usually conducts a rate study every five years, with annual check-ins along the way. The last study, in 2021, launched five years of annual hikes for water and wastewater services through June 2026. The fourth year of those increases will kick in on July 1, when the new fiscal year starts.
Now, city officials are asking to speed up the rate-setting process so the next five-year span would start in July 2025.
The rate study, a complex process that would be conducted by an outside firm, will cost about $360,000, the staff report said.
Doing the rate study now will put the city in a better position to borrow money for the water recycling project and other efforts by having a long-term rate structure in place, officials said in the report.
The report for Tuesday's meeting includes sample projections for new utility rates under various financing scenarios.
For a typical singe-family home using an average amount of water, the combined monthly bill for water and wastewater services would start at close to $129 next summer. By the fifth year, the bill would run about $207 to $220, depending on the financing method, according to the sample projection.
Current rates for an average single-family home will be about $120.85 starting in July, the city's existing rate structure shows.
Ventura has received about $50 million in grant funds that will help pay for the VenturaWaterPure program, and another $71 million of potential grants could ease the burden on ratepayers, according to the staff report.
VenturaWaterPure is a result of a 2012 legal settlement with Wishtoyo Foundation’s Ventura Coastkeeper Program and Heal the Bay over discharges into the estuary.
Under terms of the settlement, construction of the advanced water purification facility should be complete by the end of 2027. When fully operational, the project is expected to deliver up to 20% of the city's annual water demand.
Separately, council members on Tuesday could also approve a $13.3 million agreement with an environmental engineering firm to design the specialized water purification plant that will serve as the cornerstone of Ventura's water recycling program. The proposed contract is with Hazen and Sawyer, a New York-based firm that specializes in water projects.
The council meeting starts at 5 p.m. at City Hall, 501 Poli St.
Wes Woods II covers West County for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at wesley.woodsii@vcstar.com, 805-437-0262 or @JournoWes.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: As Ventura Water costs rise, city weighs rate hikes
