Water restrictions and billing impact analysis

Water Restrictions

Block Billing and Water Restrictions

The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze water restrictions in Lubbock Texas. Specifically it will discuss local water restrictions and the block billing system that the city council designed. Lubbock Texas is experiencing a major drought, and water conservation is key to conserving this most precious of resources. However, the City Council's solution, block billing and raising water rates, simply does not address the problem, since the calculation period used was faulty. In addition, some communities who have utilized block billing structures in the past have eliminated them due to inaccuracies and other problems. Block billing is used to create water conservation, but water restrictions were implemented after the block billing practices went into affect, which can only add controversy to the block billing system.

Block billing is a system of averaging water (or other utility) usage, establishing guidelines, and billing according to an average of water consumption for residential and commercial enterprises. In Lubbock, block billing for water was proposed and adopted in 2006, and went into affect in April 2007. The block billing structure was built on an average from September 2006 through February 2007, but this is a time when consumption is lower than in the warmer summer months. Thus, consumers will be penalized for using normal amounts of water in the summer, because the average is faulty and does not take into consideration the warmer summer weather in Texas. Using a time that water consumption is lower may seem to be a way to ensure consumers conserve more water, but that has already been proved wrong, as the system was only in effect a little over two months when residents were placed on emergency water restrictions.

Recently, (June 19), water consumers in the Lubbock area were placed on a Stage Four water alert, which restricts the use of water for just about any outdoor activities in Lubbock. Before, watering was permitted twice a week, and the restrictions were far less restrictive. Now, hand watering is permitted, but the watering of lawns with any type of sprinklers, filling pools and hot tubs, and even washing cars in a driveway is prohibited. Thus, the water "conservation" measures that the block billing were supposed to provide are not enough, and the city is still on extremely strict water restrictions until further notice. The citizens will be paying higher water rates to use less water, and in effect are being penalized in their attempts to conserve water. One Lubbock reporter notes, "The rates punish fluctuation more than use: a business that has a high but stable water demand may not ever leave the base rate, while a smaller business that uses more water in different seasons can creep into higher price brackets" (Blackburn, 2007). This has left businesses and residents unable to know what to budget for their water usage, and the system has been overhauled so many times before it actually was implemented that many people are totally confused about the rates and what it will mean to them personally. Obviously, there is a huge problem with water availability, and other resources need to be studied, rather than simply implementing block billing as a method of water conservation that is already clearly not working effectively.

Water is a critical resource that is certain. One Web site notes, "The world's water consumption rate is doubling every 20 years, outpacing by two times the rate of population growth ("Desalination," 2007). However, the water shortage in Lubbock and other areas did not happen overnight, it has taken years of growth and lack of management for these shortages to occur. Now, other solutions must be sought to help alleviate the water crisis all over the nation. One solution that has been utilized in the Middle East, where water is a highly critical issue, is desalination. Initially, desalination processes have been extremely costly, both in set-up and delivery, and in energy costs to run the systems. However, many new innovations in desalination may see the costs come down, while energy usage is much more efficient. This water can be created from seawater, or brackish water, and it can be piped to areas that suffer from drought or low water conditions. While these solutions are expensive, and are certainly years away, the City of Lubbock should begin studies now, to ensure a safe and secure water supply for the future. In addition, the city should look at tougher restrictions for new building and landscaping as alternate ways to save water and ensure a consistent water supply for the future. Basing a block billing system on water usage in the winter is simply a route to disaster. The block billing system does not encourage water savings, as the current water emergency clearly indicates. It is not enough to ensure residents have enough water, it is based on faulty calculations, and it has already been overtaken by Stage Four emergency restrictions. It is too little too late and other ways of conserving water must be addressed. It took three years to implement this system, over much controversy and dissent. It seems now that the council must act quickly to find other ways to ensure Lubbock enjoys adequate water supplies for years to come. Conservation is only one way to ensure this occurs - other methods must be employed for the long-term future of the community.

Other communities that utilize block billing have seen varied success rates with their practices. For example, Dover, Delaware utilized a "decline block billing" structure until 2005, and then replaced this structure with a consumption-based, meter reading system (Revenue manual, 2006, p. 67). Today, the city bases their water rates and consumption on a complex set of estimates, including consumption, expected rainfall estimates, reserves available, and several other variables, some of which are calculated as much as five years in advance (Revenue manual, 2006, p. 67).

Another city utilizing block billing water charges is Santa Fe New Mexico, who implemented them around the same time Lubbock implemented their own block billing fees. However, when Santa Fe implemented their block billing, they also enacted strict water conservation guidelines, and removed water conservation restrictions, such as Stage Two Water Emergency Restrictions (Comprehensive water conservation requirements, 2007, p. 1). Thus, Santa Fe streamlined their conservation systems while implementing a block billing system, while Lubbock has created more bureaucracy with their system, as the recent Stage Four alert indicates.