East Bay Municipal Utility District
| EBMUD | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area |
| Headquarters | 375 11th Street Oakland, CA 94607-4240 |
| Annual budget | $1.8 billion USD for the next two fiscal years (July 1, 2015 – June 30, 2017 |
| Website | https://www.ebmud.com/ |
East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), colloquially referred to as "East Bay Mud", provides water and sewage treatment services for an area of approximately 331 square miles in the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay.[1] As of 2007, EBMUD serves approximately 1.3 million people[1] in portions of Alameda County and Contra Costa County in California, including the cities of Richmond, El Cerrito, Hercules, San Pablo, Pinole, Lafayette, Danville, Oakland, Piedmont, Emeryville, Berkeley, Albany, Alameda, San Leandro, neighboring unincorporated regions, and portions of cities such as Hayward and San Ramon.[2] EBMUD currently has an average annual growth rate of 0.8% and is projected to serve 1.6 million people by 2030. Headquartered in Oakland, EBMUD owns and maintains 2 water storage reservoirs on the Mokelumne River, 5 terminal reservoirs, 91 miles of water transmission aqueducts, 4,100 miles of water mains, 6 water treatment plants, 29 miles of wastewater interceptor sewer lines and a regional wastewater treatment facility rated at a maximum treatment capacity of 320 MGD.[1]
History
In 1923, EBMUD was founded due to the rapid population growth and severe drought in the area. The district constructed Pardee Dam (finished in 1929) on the Mokelumne River in the Sierra Nevada, and a large steel pipe Mokelumne Aqueduct to transport the water from Pardee Reservoir across the Central Valley to the San Pablo Reservoir located in the hills of the East Bay region. In subsequent years, EBMUD constructed two additional aqueducts to distribute water to several other East Bay reservoirs. From the various large regional reservoirs, water is transported to treatment plants and delivered to local reservoirs and tanks, thence distributed by gravity to customers.
In the 1980s with federal grant funding, EBMUD undertook a major facility expansion to accommodate wet weather waste water overflow (i.e. the vastly increased system demand in the rainy season). This project took many years of construction for implementation, after the planning and Environmental Impact Statement phases.
In May 2008, EBMUD announced severe drought and austerity measures for its customers. With the easing of the drought, these measures were rescinded in 2010. EBMUD announced mandatory water rationing again in August 2014.[3]
Finances
As with other public entities, the District has significantly underfunded liabilities for legacy costs. These include $535 million for retirement and $89 million for retiree health.[4]
Finances: EBMUD Revenue Model
EBMUD has several sources of revenue for both water and sewage treatment enterprises. These sources include the sale of water, hydroelectric power, system capacity charges, sewage treatment charges, connection fees, wet weather facilities charges, interest and property tax increments.
In 2007, the water system was anticipated to generate a total of $375.5 million in revenue. Water sales account for approximately 76 percent of the revenue, with System Capacity Charges generating an additional 7 percent in revenue. Property Tax Revenue is expected to generate an additional 5 percent of revenues, with interest, electric energy sales, reimbursements and other sources making up the remaining 12 percent of revenues.[1]
Water Rights
Historically, 90 percent of the water used by EBMUD comes from the 577 square mile protected Mokelumne River watershed. EBMUD has water rights for up to 325 MGD (997 acre-feet) or a total of 364,000 acre-feet per year.[1] In normal years, EBMUD reservoirs in the East Bay receive an additional 30,000 acre-feet of local water from runoff annually. In dry years, evaporation and other losses can total more than the local runoff. Runoff from the Mokelumne watershed is not sufficient to meet EBMUD customer needs in times of severe drought.
California Drought
In April 2015, EBMUD declared a Stage 4 critical drought and has set a community-wide goal to reduce water use by 20%. To reach this goal, EBMUD has adopted new water rules that affect all customers and must supplement normal water supplies with water from additional sources, like 33,250 acre-feet from the Central Valley Project. EBMUD has enforced strict water restrictions in order to ensure all conservation measures are being taken. By the end of 2015, EBMUD was projected to have in storage 320,000 to 330,000 acre-feet of water.[5]
On May 10, 2015, EBMUD declared an end to the drought emergency, as their reservoirs had more water than average. [6]
References
External links
Coordinates: 37°48′N 122°12′W / 37.8°N 122.2°W