I hope everyone has had a nice World Water Day.

While there are a lot of international water issues, its as good as time as any to bring up water as a local issue.

So, a couple of things:

Despite all the earlier attempts to bring attention to the City of Richmond’s water rates, as far as I can tell this city still has the highest minimum residential water rate in the country.

Richmond continues its regressive water rates, offering a discount to those using vast amounts of water while maintaining the highest minimum water/sewer service charge in the country. Meanwhile, Henrico County’s minimum service charge is a third of Richmond’s while promoting conservation by offering a one-third discount in water/sewer volume charge for those using 6 ccf (hundred cubic feet) or less.

Currently if a residence uses 0 ccf of water/sewer, the monthly bill from Norfolk would be $1, the bill from Henrico would be $16.27, while the bill from Richmond would be $47.03.

This is why the water rates are a social justice issue: indigent and elderly persons in Richmond must pay $47.03, even if they don’t use 1 ccf of water, (and water is a necessity). And it is an environmental issue because the more water you use in Richmond, the lower residential water volume rate you will pay; this does not encourage conservation of this important resource. By contrast, Henrico County actively encourages conservation through its rate structure, offering a considerable discount in its water and sewer volume charge for residential households using 6 ccf or less.

Here are the current water/sewer rates for Norfolk, Henrico Co. and Richmond for comparison:

Norfolk: monthly service charge: $1
Water volume charge: $4.01/ccf
Waste water collection: $3.26/ccf
Waste water treatment: $3.05/ccf
[Note: no discount for high volume residential users]

Henrico: monthly service charge: water $5.80 and sewer $10.88
Water volume charge: $2.48/ccf
Sewer volume charge: $2.63/ccf
If you use 6 ccf or less:
Water volume charge: $1.54/ccf
Sewer volume charge: $1.61/ccf
[Note: no discount for high volume residential users]

Richmond: monthly service charge: water $18.80 and sewer $28.23
Volume 1-100 ccf
Water volume charge: $1.59/ccf
Sewer volume charge: $2.57/ccf
Volume 101-2000 ccf
Water volume charge: $1.47/ccf
Sewer volume charge: $2.57/ccf
Volume over 2000 ccf
Water volume charge: $1.44/ccf
Sewer volume charge: $2.57/ccf
[Note: discount for high volume residential users]

I don’t know what else to do about this. The local Sierra CLub is trying to make it more of an issue as well, and I think citizens should certainly question their Councilpeople as well as the Mayor. I am hoping anti-poverty activists will recognize the injustice, and I hope voters bring it up to local candidates.

This is not to say that water rates are the only local water issue, and that it is all grim. I am happy to publicize new water-focused efforts by (the very corporate affiliated) Hands On Greater Richmond, called RVAhydro. Here are some early details:

WHAT
Do you want to serve Richmond on a whole other level AND dive into an Environmental issue that is plaguing our community? We are seeking committed individuals to join us for our Spring/Summer term for RVAhydro.

What is a TeamWorks Program? A TeamWorks program takes traditional volunteering outside of the box. We are seeking a dedicated group of 12 – 15 individuals who are committed to helping serve Richmond while gaining a better understanding of the issues our city and its people face. Our 2012 program includes an introductory kickoff event and 3 service projects.

This year, TeamWorks:RVAhydro will explore Water Quality in Richmond and the implications of not addressing this issue. We are excited to offer projects that will be led by community experts in this field. If you are interested in participating, please check the project dates and express interest on the HandsOn website.

WHEN
• April 14th (9:00am – 12:00pm) – RVAhydro Kick Off and Water Quality Workshop
• May 5th (9:00am – 1:00pm) – Invasive Species Project
• June 9th (Time is TBD) – James River Clean Up with the James River Advisory Council
• July 21st (10:00am – 2:00pm) – Storm Drain Marking Project and Wrap Up

Click here to sign up and find out more.

On a national scale, there is also this campaign:

Today, in honor of World Water Day, CAI is launching Public Water Works!-a campaign to win new investment in America’s public water systems.

As Annie pointed out in The Story of Bottled Water, water systems in the United States are underfunded by $23 billion annually, a shortfall that threatens to squander the strategic investments made by previous generations in our quality of life and public health.

Let’s face it: if there’s plenty of money for fighter jets or subsidies for Big Oil, there must be enough for strategic investments in our public infrastructure. After all, as we pointed out in The Story of Broke, its investments like these that will put people back to work and get our economy going again.

We’ve endorsed the Public Water Works! campaign and hope you will too by signing a letter of support to President Obama and your Members of Congress.

Remember, one way beverage companies got Americans hooked on this bottled water scam was by convincing us public water was bad.

The best way to take away that largely phony argument isn’t by buying our own filters. It’s by advocating for safe, clean, public water for all.