GILROY
– Most Gilroy residents won’t even blink at the changes in their
water bills if the Santa Clara Valley Water District decides to
increase water rates by 25 percent at its monthly Board of
Directors meeting Tuesday.
GILROY – Most Gilroy residents won’t even blink at the changes in their water bills if the Santa Clara Valley Water District decides to increase water rates by 25 percent at its monthly Board of Directors meeting Tuesday.
For the average homeowner, the monthly bill will be raised from $14.83 to $16.19.
But, for farmers, the decision to raise the water rate by 25 percent could cost thousands of dollars more a month and is definitely making them flinch, if not outraged.
The board plans on increasing rates from $16 per acre foot to $20 per acre foot – about 326,000 gallons of water – an amount capable of serving two single-family homes for a year. For farmers who participate in the county’s water conservation program, the rate will jump from $11.50 to $14 per acre foot.
Dan Fiorio, from Fiorio Farms on Mesa Road, said that the water rate increase is just one more reason to get out of the business. The 42-year-old farmer, who grew up in Gilroy and took over his grandfather’s farm in 1987, said the high cost of operating his 400-acre bell pepper farm has resulted in low profits.
“We were thinking of quitting after this year,” he said.
With a college degree from Cal-Poly in San Luis Obispo, it would make more sense for him to go into another line of work, especially since he has a family with three daughters to support, he said.
Currently, his red, yellow and green bell peppers, which he sells to a food-processing company and uses for frozen goods, go for about $200 to $220 a ton. He said he sells an average of about 30 tons a year. With his water costs expected to jump – roughly about $14,000 dollars per year along with the increase in gasoline and his power bill, the only incentive left for him to stick around on the farm is that it has been a family tradition since the 1930s.
Water district officials said the $660,000 increase is part of the need to pay for water imported from the Sierra Nevada mountains to fill up local water basins that run underground and supply roughly 12,000 local wells with water in south county.
But some farmers feel that the increase is a result of careless mismanagement of funds. They even allege that the water district indulged its employees with excessive salary increases.
”That thing is the biggest bureaucracy I’ve ever seen. It’s mismanaged, it’s out of control,” said Louie Bonino, of LJB Farms on Fitzgerald Avenue in San Martin, referring to the water district. Bonino, who raises crops like chilis, corn, beans and broccoli, said that he and the other farmers feel helpless about stopping the proposed increase.
“I’ve gone to the meetings, we don’t have any kind of power at all, ” he said.
When called for comment, board member Sig Sanchez said he could not respond. He said, “I haven’t looked at my agenda.”
Mike Di Marco, a spokesperson for the water district, said that because of the district’s $1.7 million deficit, the increase is to be expected. Responding to criticism about the district, he said, “In an era when almost all local governments are having to reduce services or lay off people the water hasn’t been caught in this trap. We are conservative when it comes to our finances.”
The increases in population over the last decade without an increase in the rate has also contributed to the deficit, he said.
An internal audit of the water district’s finances is 2002 resulted in recommendations that helped streamline the district’s funds, Di Marco said.
But Ralph Santos, president of El Camino Packing who also owns Ralph’s Cherries, said that the water board had refused to answer questions about how much imported water goes to North County and then how much water is set aside for South County. He feels that South County is charged for water that mostly ends up in the North.
He said that farmer’s contracts with food processors were set back in March and so they have no choice but to incur the costs.
“There’s no place to ease the burden,” he said.
The Board of Directors meeting will be at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at 5700 Almaden Expressway, San Jose.
