The Placer County Water Agency recently sold up to 20,000 acre-feet of water to a water district serving Fresno and Kings County farmland.
The water will be moved to the Westlands Water District through the Bureau of Reclamation canal system to the San Luis Reservoir, where it could be used immediately or stored for later use, according to the California Farm Bureau Federation.
The transfer is scheduled for November and December, and is the latest indicator of water shortages throughout the state, a farm bureau e-newsletter states.
The Placer County water agency's Board of Directors also recently approved increasing water rates for cities and local water companies it supplies, and will consider similar increases for the agency's ratepayers during the board's November meeting.
Water agency officials said the increases are needed to help the agency meet increased business costs, preserve water system reliability and upgrade portions of an aging water delivery infrastructure, according to an agency news release.
The board approved a 3.25 percent increase in monthly service charges for treated water supplied to Lincoln, the California American Water Company and five smaller treated water retailers. The water usage charge, another component of the water bill, was increased 3.8 percent, the release states.
Directors considered increasing the renewal and replacement charge, a third component of water bills, by $1.19, but decided to increase it by 50 cents per month, resulting in a reduction of 2009 funding for system maintenance.
Also, beginning next year, water bills will not include a charge for state and federal mandated programs as a water bill line item. Instead, the costs are being included in the water usage charge, the release states.
The board also approved 3.25 percent increases in usage rates for the nine large commercial agricultural water users in one area and similar increased for six untreated water resale customers in two other areas of the county.
All of the rate adjustments will go into effect Jan. 1. Rate adjustments for Lincoln will begin March 1.
A public hearing on the proposed increases for the water agency's ratepayers will be held as part of the board's meeting at 2 p.m. Nov. 6 in the water agency's business center, located at 144 Ferguson Rd., Auburn.
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