Saturday August 14th 2016 2:30pm to 4pm City of Saratoga Administrative RoomWith Saratoga Citizens, SJWC, SCVWD and Councilmember Rishi Kumar Deck Prepared by Councilmember Rishi Kumar Saratoga CA

1. Saratoga
Water
Mee+ng
Sunday,
August
14th
2016
2:30pm
to
4pm
City
of
Saratoga
Administra+ve
Room
With
Saratoga
Ci+zens,
SJWC,
SCVWD
and
Councilmember
Rishi
Kumar
Deck
Prepared
by
Councilmember
Rishi
Kumar
Saratoga
CA

2. OBJECTIVES:
Discuss
Saratoga’s
Water
Challenges
• An
opportunity
for
amicable
dialogue
• Arrive
at
Common
Understanding
• Understand
the
Engagement
process
• Consider
op+ons
for
a
solu+on

3. Par+cipa+ng
Team
• Ci+zens
of
Saratoga
• -­‐-­‐John
Tang
|
VP
of
Government
Rela+ons
and
Corporate
Communica+on
|
San
Jose
Water
Company
|
110
West
Taylor
St.
|
San
Jose,
CA
95110
|
Tel:
+1
408
279-­‐7933
|
Fax:
+1
408
279-­‐7934
• -­‐-­‐RACHAEL
GIBSON
Local
&
Regional
Government
Rela+ons
Office
of
Government
Rela+ons
Direct:
(408)
630-­‐2884
www.valleywater.org
• -­‐-­‐Rishi
Kumar,
City
Councilmember,
Saratoga
Join
my
community
ac+vi+es
hfp://www.rishikumar.com/Events
Email:
rkumar@saratoga.ca.us
PHONE
408
805
5993
||
Facebook.com/VoteRishi
||
@rishikumar1
Monthly
City
Council
update
hfp://www.rishikumar.com/newslefer

4. AGENDA
• Overview
of
Water
by
Councilmember
Rishi
Kumar,
rate
seing
process,
par+es
involved
etc
• Santa
Clara
Valley
Water
District
explana+on
of
the
19%
hike
• San
Jose
Water
Company
explana+on
of
their
rate
hikes
• Q&A
• Op+ons
for
Solu+on/
how
do
we
move
forward
• Saratoga
Water
Ci+zen
Commifee

5. Department
of
Water
Resources
(DWR)
• The
Department
of
Water
Resources
(DWR)
is
responsible
for
managing
and
protec+ng
California’s
water
resources.
DWR
works
with
other
agencies
(like
SANTA
CLARA
VALLEY
WATER
DISTRICT)
to
benefit
the
State’s
people
and
to
protect,
restore
and
enhance
the
natural
and
human
environments.

6. US
Bureau
of
Reclama+on
(USBR)
• USBR
federal
agency
under
the
U.S.
Department
of
the
Interior,
which
oversees
water
resource
management,
specifically
as
it
applies
to
the
oversight
and
opera+on
of
the
diversion,
delivery,
and
storage
projects
that
it
has
built
throughout
the
western
United
States
for
irriga+on,
water
supply,
and
afendant
hydroelectric
power
genera+on.

7. ROLE
OF
SANTA
CLARA
WATER
DISTRICT
• A
Government
organiza+on
• The
mission
of
the
district
is
to
provide
Silicon
Valley
safe,
clean
water
for
a
healthy
life,
environment,
and
economy.
• Water
procured
from
DWR
and
USBR

8. ROLE
OF
SAN
JOSE
WATER
COMPANY
• San
Jose
Water
Company
is
an
investor
owned
public
u+lity,
and
is
one
of
the
largest
and
most
technically
sophis+cated
urban
water
system
in
the
United
States
• SJWC
serves
Saratoga
and
we
are
SJWC’s
customers

9. Role
of
CPUC
• The
California
Public
U8li8es
Commission
regulates
privately
owned
electric,
natural
gas,
telecommunica+ons,
water,
railroad,
rail
transit,
and
passenger
transporta+on
companies,
in
addi+on
to
authorizing
video
franchises.
• Their
five
Governor-­‐appointed
Commissioners,
as
well
as
staff,
are
dedicated
to
ensuring
that
consumers
have
safe,
reliable
u)lity
service
at
reasonable
rates,
protec)ng
against
fraud,
and
promo+ng
the
health
of
California's
economy.

10. CAN
SJWC
apply
their
own
rates?
• Which
government
body
regulates
SJWC
a
private
corpora+on?
Answer:
CPUC
• Who
approved
the
surcharge?
Answer:
CPUC
(in
2015)
•
Do
we
have
a
Saratoga
Councilmember
on
the
CPUC
board?
Answer:
No!!
Saratoga’s
Councilmembers
have
nothing
to
do
with
the
CPUC
approvals.
SJWC
is
out
of
Saratoga’s
jurisdic+on.

11. COUNCILMEMBERS
on
the
SANTA
CLARA
VALLEY
WATER
DISTRICT
COMMISSION
• Saratoga’s
Mayor
appoints
a
council
representa+ve
to
Santa
Clara
Valley
Water
District
• It
is
a
Commission
–
with
limited
decision
making
authority,
mostly
recommenda+on
and
voice
out
city
opinion
• Rishi
Kumar
has
been
the
city
representa+ve
since
December
2014

12. Decisions:
SANTA
CLARA
VALLEY
WATER
DISTRICT
BOARD
• A
five
member
board
makes
decisions
for
the
Santa
Clara
Valley
Water
District
• Nai
Hsueh
a
Saratoga
resident
is
elected
member
on
the
board
represen+ng
our
district
on
the
board

13. RISHI’S
YES
vote
explained
below;
approved
19%
Ground
Water
Surcharge
for
Santa
Clara
Valley
Water
District
• As
a
member
of
the
SCVWD
Commision,
I
voted
to
ensure
Santa
Clara
Valley
Water
District
will
con+nue
to
provide
Saratoga
good
quality
drinking
water
for
the
next
few
years,
with
considera+on
for
the
state
of
the
drought
and
it's
impact.
• SCVWD
is
a
county
organiza+on
and
have
expenses
for
ground
water
produc+on
charges.
Here
are
the
expenses
they
were
asking
funding
for:
#1
Pay
for
construc+on,
maintenance
and
opera+on
of
produc+on
facili+es
#2
Pay
for
imported
water
purchase
#3
Pay
for
construc+ng
maintaining,
and
opera+ng
facili+es
which
will
conserved
or
distribute
water
including
facili+es
for
ground
water
recharge,
distribu+on,
purifica+on
and
treatment
#4
Pay
for
any
debt
we
incur
for
all
above
• I
supported
this
-­‐
as
I
think
that
support
was
needed
for
Saratoga's
(and
Silicon
Valley)
water
needs
for
the
future.
• Click
on
this
hfp://www.slideshare.net/rishi59/the-­‐rate-­‐seing-­‐process
to
read
the
gory
details
of
the
19%
SCVWD
rate
hike
But
our
vote
was
only
a
RECOMMENDATION.
The
Board
is
the
ul+mate
authority

14. RISHI
KUMAR
DID
NOT
VOTE
FOR
ANY
INCREASE
IN
SJWC
CHARGES
• Saratoga
Councilmembers
cannot
vote
to
approve
any
SJWC
charges
• Saratoga
Councilmembers
do
not
have
the
authority
or
the
posi+on

15. SCVWD
COMMISSION
VOTE
WAS
A
RECOMMENDATION
The
SCVWD
BOARD
IS
THE
AUTHORITY
• So
why
wasn't
the
Commission's
vote
binding
for
staff?
Ul+mately,
the
commission
Council
is
on
only
makes
recommenda+on
when
we
vote,
we
are
called
a
"Commission"
-­‐
we
are
NOT
board
members.
We
are
NOT
a
decision
making
authority.
• It
is
the
Santa
Clara
Water
District
Board
members
that
make
the
final
decision
which
they
did
soon
axer
• This
vote
was
conducted
on
May
10th
Agenda
Item
2.9
• hfps://scvwd.legistar.com/Mee+ngDetail.aspx?
ID=459787&GUID=990BC7C8-­‐8851-­‐489D-­‐9FA1-­‐
C87E7AD681BF&Op+ons=&Search=
• You
can
see
it
was
unanimously
voted
AYE
–
• And
it
was
only
then
it
was
binding.

16. SARATOGA’S
WATER
BILL
Four
components
of
increase
we
will
see
COMPON
ENT
PERCENTAGE
INCREASE
WHO
APPROVED?
#1
6.7%
related
to
the
19%
SCVWD
ground
produc+on
charges
–
voted
by
SCVWD
Board
CPUC
#2
8.6%
CPUC
approved
them
for
8.6%
star+ng
Jan
1st
that
went
live
on
June
14th
–
based
on
a
rate
increase
package
submifed
by
SJWC
CPUC
#3
3%
for
the
Arrears
associated
with
above
approval
CPUC
#4
Surcharge
(approved
by
CPUC
in
2015)
CPUC
CPUC
regulates
SJWC
–
any
changes
needs
CPUC
approval

17. MATH
• If
your
water
bill
was
$100
last
year
and
you
consumed
the
exact
same
this
year
• Assump+on:
Surcharge
remains
the
same
• $100
+
$8.6
(CPUC
approved)
+
6.7%
(SCVWD
approved)
+
3%
(CPUC
approved
hike
arrears
for
January
1st
through
June
13th
2016)
=
APPROX
$118.30
So
now
if
your
bill
was
$1,000,
and
you
consumed
the
same,
your
bill
would
be
$1,180.
• Why
did
bills
go
2x
and
3x?

18. SURCHARGE
• So
the
only
reason
it
goes
to
$2,000
it
would
be
due
to
the
drought
surcharge.
• Ques+on
to
you:
Are
we
going
to
get
stuck
with
the
8%
number
or
the
6%
number
or
look
at
why
my
bill
went
from
$1000
to
$2000
due
to
surcharge?

19. LINK
TO
SJWC
MAILER
• This
informa+on
was
sent
out
to
all
SJWC
customers
(the
PDF
doc
was
uploaded
to
slideshare)
• hfp://www.slideshare.net/rishi59/sjwc-­‐lefer-­‐
to-­‐customer-­‐july-­‐2016

20. We
protested
the
surcharge
(2015)
• As
the
representa+ve
of
our
city
on
the
Santa
Clara
Valley
Water
District,
Councilmember
Rishi
Kumar
has
NOT
voted
in
favor
of
the
surcharge
• In
fact
some
of
us
have
protested
at
the
public
rally
in
San
Jose
in
May
2015
along
with
Councilmember
Howard
Miller
and
Boardmember
Nai
Hsueh
• The
CPUC
approved
the
surcharge
that
is
impac+ng
our
community
• The
Math
for
the
Surcharge
does
not
help
Saratoga
with
our
large
lots,
and
how
the
surcharge
has
been
rolled-­‐out,
as
the
reasoning
behind
the
surcharge
is
to
promote
conserva+on

21. COMPONENT
#1:
6.7%
• The
19%
water
rate
hike
that
the
BOARD
of
SCVWD
approved
(not
us
on
the
commission)
resulted
in
a
a
6.7%
hike
for
SJWC’s
customers
• This
was
approved
by
CPUC
based
on
the
ground
water
produc+on
charges
(19%)
that
the
SCVWD
Board
approved
– Councilmember
Rishi
Kumar
did
not
approve/vote
for
the
6.7%
hike
–
he
was
NOT
directly
involved

22. COMPONENT
#2:
8.6%
• SJWC
put
together
a
rate
hike
package
in
2015
(for
a
rate
hike
in
2016)
• CPUC
voted
for
it
in
a
publicly
agendized
mee+ng
• CPUC
approved
SJWC
for
8.6%
star+ng
Jan
1st,
2016
that
went
live
on
June
14th,
2016
• The
rate
hike
should
have
been
done
before
January
1st,
but
it
got
delayed

23. COMPONENT
#3:
3%
• Since
the
vote
was
delayed,
the
8.6%
was
retroac+ve
from
Jan
1st,
2016
through
June
13th,
2016
• 3%
for
the
Arrears
associated
with
that
(from
CPUC)
-­‐
we
will
see
that
delta
increase
for
a
year,
starts
July
2016

24. COMPONENT
#4:
SURCHARGE
• Surcharge
• When
we
exceed
our
quota
–
we
pay
a
penalty
• Exponen+al
fines
• John
Tang
to
explain
details

25. SOLUTION
OPTIONS:
HOW
DO
WE
MOVE
FORWARD?

26. APPEAL
TO
CPUC
• **
Informa+on
on
how
to
contact
the
CPUC
is
available
at
• hfps://www.sjwater.com/for_your_home/
home_customer_care/rates_regula+ons/
general_rate_informa+on/
customer_complaint_process

27. ECONOMIC
HARDSHIP
• ***
Link
to
Water
Rates
Assistance
Program
at
hfps://www.sjwater.com/for_your_home/
home_customer_care/rates_regula+ons/
water_rate_assistance_program_wrap

28. Alloca+on
Appeal
• hfps://www.sjwater.com/content/alloca+on-­‐
appeal-­‐form
• See
Comprehensive
Drought
info
here
• hfps://www.sjwater.com/news/topic/
comprehensive-­‐drought-­‐informa+on

29. How
many
are
impacted?
What
is
the
extent
of
impact?
• Please
submit
your
informa+on
at
– www.Tinyurl.com/ExorbitantBill

30. Access
to
2013
Bill
• Email
• customer.service@sjwater.com
•
contact
SJWC
call
center
at
408-­‐279-­‐7900

31. COUNCIL
AGENDA
TO
STRATEGIZE
• Councilmember
Rishi
Kumar
will
seek
to
place
it
on
the
agenda
of
September
7th
for
discussion.
He
will
bring
it
up
at
the
August
17th
mee+ng
– Place
it
on
the
Saratoga
Council
agenda,
put
together
a
plan
of
ac+on
as
a
group
• Depending
on
Council
Direc+on
we
have
the
op+on
to
seek
help
from
other
elected
representa+ves
of
our
district
e.g
Congresswoman
Anna
Eshoo
etc

32. Rishi
Kumar’s
water
bill
–
June+July
2016
• My
bill
is
$192.40
for
June+July
2016.
Our
family
has
conserved!
• Alloca+on
was
29.
We
hit
the
20
number

33. Quo+ng
Lloyd
–
a
Saratoga
resident
• "How
much
does
it
cost,
long-­‐term,
to
capture
and
deliver
clean,
healthy
water
to
our
houses?
That's
no
small
feat,
and
in
many
parts
of
the
world
it's
considered
a
luxury.
No
one
likes
a
big
water
bill
especially
axer
years
of
paying
so
lifle
for
water.
But
maybe
it's
necessary
in
order
for
people
to
understand
the
value
of
clean,
safe
water;
a
scarce
resource
that
maybe
shouldn't
be
wasted
on
sod
and
landscaping"

34. SARATOGA
CITIZEN
WATER
COMMITTEE
• Submit
your
interest
at
– www.Tinyurl.com/ExorbitantBill
• Join
the
Facebook
group,
open
for
Saratoga
Ci+zens
• hfps://www.facebook.com/groups/
SaratogaWater/

35. MINUTES+ACTION
ITEMS
MINUTES:
– -­‐
Rishi
walked
through
an
high
level
overview
of
the
rate
seing
process
and
the
current
%
increase
in
rates,
along
with
roles
and
responsibili+es
of
each
party
involved
in
the
process
-­‐
bring
everyone
to
the
same
page
and
arrive
at
common
understanding
– SJWC
(John)
and
SCVWD
(Rachael)
provided
their
insights
on
rates.
John
spent
a
majority
of
the
+me
white
boarding
and
answering
ques+ons
– APPEAL
PROCESS
link
was
provided
Link
to
Water
Rates
Assistance
Program
at
hfps://www.sjwater.com/for_your_home/home_customer_care/rates_regula+ons/
water_rate_assistance_program_wrap
– Informa+on
on
how
to
contact
the
CPUC
is
available
at
hfps://www.sjwater.com/for_your_home/home_customer_care/rates_regula+ons/general_rate_informa+on/customer_complaint_process
ACTION
ITEMS:
• SJWC
to
send
the
lefer,
Paul
Rogers
ar+cle
(see
next
slide)
• SJWC
to
provide
the
online
2013
bill
(work
in
progress)
• Rishi
to
send
the
deck
hfp://www.slideshare.net/rishi59/water-­‐mee+ng
• Everyone
impacted
submits
informa+on
to
TINYURL
link
–
like
to
collect
data
on
the
extent
of
the
problem
• Rishi
will
seek
to
put
this
on
the
city
council
agenda
by
discussion
on
August
17th
–
put
it
on
council
agenda
on
September
7th
to
forge
an
ac+on
plan
how
we
can
help
ci+zens
or
make
recommenda+ons
(.Depending
on
Council
decision,
seek
help
from
local
elected
leaders
and
poten+ally
collaborate
with
Saratoga
Water
Ci+zens
Commifee)

36. Reading
Links
sent
over
by
SJWC
• hfp://www.mercurynews.com/drought/
ci_29868853/california-­‐drought-­‐water-­‐
was+ng-­‐rules-­‐made-­‐permanent-­‐under
• hfp://www.mercurynews.com/drought/
ci_30197773/california-­‐drought-­‐residents-­‐cut-­‐
water-­‐use-­‐21-­‐5