Impervious Area Charge - Greater Greater Washington

Live chat with George Hawkins of DC Water

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:50:00 EDT

Our live chat guest today, George Hawkins, is the General Manager of DC Water, the water utility for the District of Columbia.

Hawkins was formerly head of the District Department of the Environment and joined us for a live chat about two years ago. Today, he's back to discuss lead pipes, the impervious area charge, and whatever else you'd like to ask.

View the chat transcript

7 comments

DC Water increasing impervious area charge, water rates (Mar 9, 2011)
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Impervious Area Charge is an integral part of sewer service (Oct 8, 2010)

Live chat with George Hawkins

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 08:43:00 EDT

by David Alpert

George Hawkins, head of DC Water, will join us for a live chat at noon today. What do you want to ask about your water? Lead and other water safety issues? The impervious area charge? Post your questions in the comments.

Comment

Live chat: DDOE Director George Hawkins, Tuesday at 2 pm (Apr 20, 2009)
Live chat: Tommy Wells, today at 3 pm (Jul 22, 2009)
DC Water increasing impervious area charge, water rates (Mar 9, 2011)
Live chat: Ron Carlee, Wednesday at noon (Aug 24, 2009)
Live chat with DDOE Director George Hawkins (Apr 21, 2009)

DC Water increasing impervious area charge, water rates

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 11:07:00 EDT

by Jamie Scott

DC Water is seeking to raise water rates approximately $6.50 per month for FY12 to fund its Clean Rivers Project and pay debt service on its 10-year $3.3 billion capital improvement budget.

Photo by Dottie Mae on Flickr.

The largest portion of the rate increase comes from a higher impervious area charge (IAC), a fee assessed on property owners for surfaces that rainwater cannot penetrate.

The utility held its first forum Tuesday night in Ward 3 to gather public input on the rate increase. DC Water General Manager George Hawkins gave a short presentation on the authority's capital improvement projects. Residents then had a chance to ask questions, most of which concerned the IAC, hydrant maintenance, and lead levels in the water.

DC Water collects the IAC to pay for its Clean Rivers Project. This project aims to clean up pollution in the Anacostia and Potomac rivers and Rock Creek. Approximately 2/3 of water runoff ends up in the Anacostia.

In the proposed budget, the IAC would increase from $3.45 to $6.87 per month, almost a 100% increase.

Other increases in DC Water rates included a retail rate increase from $46.09 to $48.84, DC PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) increase from $3.28 to $3.55, and DC Right of Way fee increase from $0.94 to $1.00. The total monthly increase would be $60.29 to $66.79, based on an average monthly consumption of 5,004 gallons of water.

Hawkins said DC Water originally intended to bundle the IAC with the retail rate for water. The fee would then depend on the water usage of a property. DC Water instead assesses the fee on all properties with impervious surfaces. This way, the fee captures properties with impervious surfaces but little to no water use (e.g. parking lots).

The IAC was a flat fee for all customers until October 1, 2010. DC Water changed the structure and created six tiers of properties, based on the amount of impervious surface on a given lot. Thus a person living in a rowhouse would pay less than the owner of a parking lot.

DC Water also collects an IAC for the District Department of the Environment (DDOE) for its own stormwater management program. One resident asked why DC Water does not call the IAC a tax. Others argued that because of water conservation systems on their property, the IAC is unfair.

Hawkins argued that the IAC is a fee, not a tax, because it is collected for a sole purpose: funding the Clean Rivers Project. For this reason, the fee also applies to the federal government, which owns a significant amount of property with impervious surfaces in the District. See this earlier post about that very issue.

Hawkins further explained that water conservation efforts would not lower the costs of the Clean River Project, so there is little incentive to offer rate deals to customers. DDOE, however, will offer incentives for conservation, thereby lowering its portion of the IAC. Hawkins indicated these incentives would be in place soon.

Though the IAC does apply to the federal government, it does not apply to District roads. Hawkins said this arrangement was part of the original decision to implement the fee. He indicated it would be difficult to now apply the fee to the city.

Hawkins highlighted some of DC Water's other capital improvement projects. The authority is replacing water mains and separating storm runoff from sewage lines.

He also said DC Water has mapped all fire hydrants in the city using GIS mapping. This allows DC Fire & EMS to monitor hydrants and find the necessary water pressure during emergencies. Low water pressure was a major factor in the fire that destroyed the Cafritz mansion in July 2009.

Lastly, Hawkins addressed questions about lead levels in the District's drinking water. He said lead levels are lower than or at federally mandated levels of 15 parts per billion. He suggested galvanized pipes, solder, or lead fixtures could increase lead levels. Residents can ask to have their water tested if they suspect higher levels of lead.

The forum was the first in a series of public meeting DC Water will hold throughout March and April, with one in each ward. They will hold a final public hearing on May 11th. Residents can submit written testimony if they cannot attend.

27 comments

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Congress orders feds to pay stormwater fees

Tue, 28 Dec 2010 08:40:00 EDT

by Erik Weber

Last week at the end of the lame-duck session, Congress passed a bill requiring federal agencies to pay local impervious surface area charges. DC Water was battling the EPA, arguing it couldn't meet requirements for stormwater quality without federal agency fees. (Switchboard, from NRDC)

Comment

Stormwater management should work with, not against, Smart Growth (Jul 8, 2009)
Constructive stormwater management proposals emerge in Virginia (Aug 25, 2009)
Impervious Area Charge is an integral part of sewer service (Oct 8, 2010)
DC Council is baaaack! (Sep 16, 2008)
How good is Congress' word on Metro funding? (Feb 18, 2009)

Impervious Area Charge is an integral part of sewer service

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 13:46:00 EDT

by Eric Fidler

The Obama administration's decision to to pay an impervious area fee added to all water bills in DC, reversing its earlier position, is a welcome step toward cleaner water.

DC's combined sewer area. Image from DC Water.

DC Water levies the impervious area charge on customers based on the estimated level of stormwater their properties dump onto the streets and thus into the sewers. This is necessary to pay for replacing DC's antiquated Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) system.

Until 1900, the District installed under every street one pipe to handle both sewage and storm water. Whatever you emptied into your kitchen sink emptied into the same pipe carrying whatever washed along your street's curbs.

The problem is that our sewer system, much like those in other old American cities, simply cannot handle the sheer volume of water that flows through the sewers during heavy rains. As a result, the sewers overflow into Rock Creek, the Potomac, and the Anacostia at 53 outfall points during these storms. As you can imagine, this discharge is neither safe nor pretty.

Rather than dig up every 18th- and 19th-century neighborhood street, DC Water is building several huge containment tunnels to temporarily store sewage-storm "brews" until the treatment plant at Blue Plains can process it all after the storm.

DC Water's CSO plan.

Underground storage tunnels will cost $2.2 billion. To recoup this cost, DC Water started levying a fee on all impervious surfaces on customers' properties, regardless of whether the property is located in a combined sewer area.

Impervious surfaces, such as a house's footprint or a driveway, prevent the ground from absorbing rainwater and slowly releasing it through local springs. Instead, water runs off our roofs, into gutters, down the downspouts, onto a sidewalk or driveway, into the street and then into the sewer. Consequently, storm drains on the street aren't just handling street water, they're also handling the water our homes, offices, parking lots, and driveways dump on the streets.

DC Water is working with the DC Department of the Environment to discount the fee for properties that mitigate their runoff. Until then, we're all paying for our runoff and the tunnels that must contain it.

But is it a fee based on usage, like your water bill, or is it a tax, like a property tax? As you learned in your civics class, no state, and certainly not the District, may tax the Federal Government. The Feds will pay for services provided, such as water and electricity, but they will not pay property and other taxes.

Since this fee is structured to approximate your burden on the sewer system, it shouldn't count as a tax. The Obama administration at first disagreed, arguing it was a tax and that the federal government should not pay.

Most ironically, DC Water's tunnels are being built to comply with the federally-mandated Clean Water Act. In essence, the federal government contributes to the problem, mandates a solution, but refuses to pay for it. This is worse than an unfunded mandate because federal government properties are partly responsible for the problem in the first place.

Without the federal government paying its share, which accounts for 20% of impervious area in DC, water bills for DC residents would soar to compensate for the Feds' "principled" delinquency. One can imagine residents demanding DC Water shut off the water to all government properties; it's hard to stand on principle if it means sitting in a porta-potty.

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) are more diplomatic. They are sponsoring legislation to require the Federal Government to pay.

Fortunately, after a second look, and probably after some hard lobbying, the Government Accountability Office reversed its earlier decision. In a recent letter DC Water provided us, GAO states, "We have concluded that the [Impervious Surface Area] charge is a component of the utility rate customers pay for water and sewer services." That is, the impervious area charge is an integral part of financing a sewer system, that by law must comply with national water quality standards.

26 comments

DC Council is baaaack! (Sep 16, 2008)
Navy Yard sidewalks get sustainable stormwater systems (Sep 1, 2010)
Stormwater management should work with, not against, Smart Growth (Jul 8, 2009)
That nice map... never mind (Jun 24, 2010)
What's a tax, what's a fee, and what's just a shell game (Apr 28, 2009)

Feds to pay for their wastewater

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 08:35:00 EDT

by Erik Weber

The Obama administration has agreed to pay the impervious area charge, levied to bring the sewer system in compliance with the Clean Water Act, for federal properties within the combined sewer area (any area built before 1900). (Infrastructurist, Eric Fidler)

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