Oroville, Calif.
California Water Service has served Oroville residents and businesses for ninety years, yet a few activists are trying to manufacture a takeover of Cal Water’s operations, business, and property.
Since 1927, Cal Water has provided safe, reliable and high-quality water service to the residents and businesses of Oroville. Today, Cal Water serves approximately 10,400 residents of Oroville and several nearby communities and continues to invest in infrastructure. Between 2007 and 2015, Cal Water has made more than $6.7 million in improvements to the water system, ensuring the city has safe and reliable drinking water.
THE FACTS ABOUT A TAKEOVER OF CAL WATER’S SERVICE AREA
| FACT | FACT | FACT |
|---|---|---|
| Just in northern California, a number of water suppliers have rates that are substantially higher than what Oroville customers pay. For example, Paradise Irrigation District (PID) recently adopted new water rates. Under the new rates, a typical PID customer will pay about 15% more for their monthly water service than a typical Cal Water customer in Oroville. | Contested takeovers are typically very costly for the acquiring government entity and do not necessarily result in lower rates or better service than private ownership post-takeover.
(California Water Association study) |
Cal Water’s typical single-family residential customer in Oroville uses about 9,724 gallons of water every month. Their monthly water bill works out to about $2.00 a day – less than a penny per gallon of water.
(Cal Water Oroville fact sheet) |
If a government entity takes a local water system using eminent domain, it is required to pay the water company millions and millions of dollars for forcibly seizing its property and business. Activists use low-ball estimates to justify trying to take over water systems. Government takeovers end up costing many times more than originally estimated, and taxpayers end up paying for all of it.
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