Should the Water Utility be Publicly Owned?

The League membership at our annual meeting unanimously approved the following position:
Water is a necessary resource for human life, not a commodity. The most important attributes of a water utility are: transparency; local control of rates and quality among other issues; local governance which is co-located with the water supply and service area; public oversight; high quality service; competitive rates.
The LWVGP believes financial analysis of public ownership of a water utility is warranted.
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Local Study Details

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Who Owns the Water?

Download the report, titled, "ILLINOIS GROUNDWATER LAW: THE RULE OF REASONABLE USE" (PDF) 
It's a report given to the Illinois Groundwater Association on October 8, 1985, and prepared by Gary R. Clark, P.E., of the State of Illinois Department of Transportation, Division of Water Resources.
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SHOULD THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF GREATER PEORIA SUPPORT PUBLIC OWNERSHIP OF THE PEORIA WATER SYSTEM? 
 
Brief timeline of the key dates for the City's next opportunity to purchase

• 1889 franchise agreement allows the City, every 5 years, the option to buy the water company. Next date would be early May 2019
• A key trigger is 6 months prior to that time when the City would need to decide whether or to trigger an appraisal process, which has only happened once.
• One of the issues regarding purchase is the lack of transparency of data from the water company that would influence both the value and the decision to purchase, and a regulation/policy that there would be a higher price to purchase by a governmental entity than a private entity.
• There has been little opportunity for the public to participate except the referendum
  
  

The study committee has collected information in the following areas: Water quality and the water supply. Maintenance of the water system. Water rates. Economic viability of the region Public Health. Conservation.

We invite League members and the public to participate on the committee and at the meetings.

• Costs in rates. We are twice the national average and, from the same source, twice as much as East Peoria
• The current profit for the water company, the excess money, could come to the city after operations and maintenance, and could pay for other public services
• Public ownership could be used for as an economic development and land use planning tool
• Ownership and control of a natural resource
• Why is it that 85% of the water systems in the country are publicly owned?
• What is role of the public in the decision making process

Water: The New Oil 
by Terry Bibo

Read the full article as published in the Community Word >>​

Central Illinois may well be the Saudi Arabia of water.

"There's extreme value in the water," says Bryan Stubbs, Executive Director of the Cleveland Water Alliance. "It is the new oil."

It is safe to say most of us don't think of water that way. In this area, when you turn on the tap you expect clean water and plenty of it. Unless you're a civil engineer -- or maybe a CEO -- you probably don't think about water at all.

The League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria wants that to change.

Look at Arizona and Southern California. Southwestern states have been fighting over water rights for decades. As just one example, earlier this year the Navajo Nation Council cut a deal with Utah to get at least some of the water which has bypassed tribes living in poverty and been sucked up by affluent boomtowns like Las Vegas. Western tribes are in negotiation with the U.S. Department of the Interior over 17 more water rights cases.

Look outside the U.S. Worldwide, an estimated 780 million people do not have access to decent water and 2.5 billion people lack access to sanitation. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 2,200 children under five years of age die from diarrhea each year, mostly due to unsafe drinking water. Millions more people are infected with parasites and diseases from inadequate sanitation.

If you don't want to look elsewhere, look at Peoria a century ago. Before the national income tax in 1913, whiskey provided a third of the U.S. government's revenue and Peoria paid the biggest share. Before Prohibition, dozens of breweries and distilleries took advantage of abundant groundwater and the Illinois River.

Prohibition is long over; both those resources remain.

Stubbs says corporations such as Levi Strauss are planning for a future where water is scarce. Even now there are places where "you can't buy water, at any price," which is an opportunity for areas where it is abundant.

This a different perspective for Central Illinois, where water mostly makes news when the argument over public vs. private management resurfaces. Already, Peoria is unusual for two reasons. While 85 percent of America's water supply is handled by public bodies, the city has a private franchise. And, unlike most cities with outside management, that franchise has been up for renewal every five years since 1889.

The current agreement expires in May 2019, but the City Council must make its decision six months earlier. Hoping for a vigorous debate, the LWVGP has begun its own water study.

You can help.

Water questions: About six months ago, the LWVGP began to wonder about water. It didn't think citizens were getting all the facts. While most people appear satisfied with the service provided by Illinois American Water Co. -- and skeptical about the city of Peoria's expertise -- League members suspect they don't understand the costs or the alternatives.

Without taking sides, a study group was instituted in May. "The study is important because information on this issue was `light' or `lite'," said president Cheryl Budzinski. "The community spends a lot of money on their water bills and the question of whether we are getting much for the money could be addressed in the public sector. But there is a wall because Illinois American is a private company which doesn't provide detailed information about utility expenses in our community." For example, she says, local revenues go to pay dividends to investors and replace infrastructure in other communities.

Budzinski helps the study group, which has members with back-grounds from law to journalism to public service. The City of Peoria has sent representatives; Illinois-American declined.

"I got involved because I did not know much about the water company buyout option and I wanted to learn more," said co-chairman Ryan Hidden. "Access to water is a human rights issue and recognized by the United Nations. The availability of water is essential to life and is coming under increasing pressure as the impact of climate change becomes more clear. It is important to make sure water is available to everyone and to find the best way to accomplish that."

The group decided upon one deceptively simple main question: Does public or private ownership of the water company offer greater benefit to the people of central Illinois?

After a couple months of consideration, that question was found to have six facets worthy of individual attention: Water quality and water supply. Maintenance of the water system. Water rates. Economic viability of the region. Public health. Conservation.

Each facet prompts more questions. Primarily, that means "How does Central Illinois compare with other areas?" For example, when it comes to water rates, how much do Peorians pay compared with other cities?
While the study is by no means complete, the preliminary answer to that question is: A lot.

Seeking water answers: Although the national conversation on water lags 15 years behind the discussion of energy, Stubbs said, that's changing. "People are finally waking up to water," he said, noting areas including Chicago are pooling resources.

The Cleveland Water Alliance recently completed the first phase of a two-part study on water's benefits and values. In the second phase, with a grant from Coca-Cola, it will examine water's economic development possibilities. "It's important we cherish it, we value it," says Stubbs. "But also, that we use it as an asset."

Recent surveys show awareness rising in his area. He's also encouraged by national efforts such as "Imagine a day without water" on Sept. 15. ( imagineadaywithoutwater.org.)

In Peoria, awareness efforts have just begun. The LWVGP study group asks for your help at a public meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29 at the Peoria Public Library North Branch.

"We chose certain areas to research, but the community has other questions," says Budzinski. "The public needs to attend to ask those questions and say what is important to them."