By Kiley Russell. Bay City News.
The California Department of Justice issued a “legal alert” on Wednesday aimed at helping protect people from water shutoffs as the state continues to battle drought, rising prices and the lingering economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The state attorney general, Rob Bonta, said it issued the alert in part in response to an estimated 40 percent increase in the price of certain types of water transactions so far this year and the fact that approximately 1.6 million Californians have fallen behind on their payments as of January 2021.
“Many families here in our state can’t pour themselves a glass of water, they can’t wash their hands, they can’t even flush the toilet,” Bonta said during a news conference Wednesday. “All because they can’t make their water payments and they’re facing plummeting credit scores.”
The alert was sent to drinking water systems to remind them of protections codified in the state's Water Shutoff Protection Act, which was authored by state Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2018.
Dodd, who was also at the news conference, said the law is intended to help the state's most vulnerable residents, including low-income households, seniors, children and people living with illnesses and disabilities.
“Access to water is a fundamental right,” Dodd said. “Unfortunately, with rising costs, many people are forced to choose between food, water and shelter, and that’s really why I wrote the Water Shutoff Protection Act.”
By law, most water providers cannot disconnect service unless a bill is at least 60 days past due, must provide at least seven days' notice before disconnecting services, and must make a good faith effort to provide notice by telephone and in writing.
Additionally, water systems cannot cut off service to customers who meet certain financial and health requirements and are willing to make alternative payments.
Water systems must also have a way for customers to make deferred or reduced payments, enroll in alternative payment schedules, and contest or appeal their bills.
During the height of the pandemic, the state initiated a temporary water shut-off moratorium so that people experiencing financial hardship could still have access to clean water.
That expired in early 2022, and many local drinking water providers are now offering bill payment assistance through the federal Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program, which offers a one-time payment of up to $2,000.
Some local water systems offer additional assistance through their own locally funded programs.
For example, the Santa Clara Valley Water District, a wholesaler that provides drinking water to approximately 2 million people through 13 local retail water systems, has partnered with Sacred Heart Community Service on a $2 million relief fund.
Its Low-Income Residential Water Rate Assistance Program has so far provided $670,000 to 1,519 South Bay households, according to Matt Keller, a spokesman for Valley Water.
The East Bay Municipal Utility District, which supplies drinking water to 1.4 million customers in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, also offers its own Customer Assistance Program.
Since its inception 35 years ago, EBMUD has provided approximately $30 million to 27,000 households, according to district officials.
Additionally, over the past two years or so, the state has spent $1 billion to help water and sewer systems deal with unpaid bills that piled up while the water shut-off moratorium was in effect.
And while the state has earmarked roughly $200 million for water bill assistance in the current budget, Newsom vetoed another Dodd bill in September that would have established a permanent Water Rate Assistance Fund.
“At this time, continued, sustainable funding has not been identified,” Newsom said in his veto message.
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