Sacramento, CA – Assembly Bill 640 by Assemblymember Hector De La Torre (D-South Gate) passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee today.  The measure will ensure constituents in the 50th Assembly District, which are within the Central Basin Water District, pay only based on the water they use and are not subsidizing water rates for neighboring West Basin Water District communities. 

“The current uniform district-wide water replenishment assessment, formulated by the Water Replenishment District (WRD) as a result of a 1959 state law, currently puts an undue burden on the Central Basin's poorest communities, who are now subsidizing the high replenishment costs in the West Basin,” said De La Torre.  “This is particularly troublesome considering that the average median annual household income in the West Basin is nearly 45 percent higher than that of the Central Basin.”

Specifically, AB 640 will allow additional factors to be considered as guidelines when water fees are assessed in the Central and West Basin.  By allowing the WRD, which serves both the Central and West Basins, to calculate its groundwater replenishment assessment based on updated factors, including actual usage, constituents in the Central and West basins will pay only for the water they use.  This will help ensure greater equity in the distribution of costs.  

Central Basin Water District includes:  Artesia,  Bell Gardens,  Bellflower,  Cerritos,  Commerce,  Compton,  Cudahy, Bell,  Downey,  Hawaiian Gardens,  Huntington Park,  La Habra Heights La Mirada,  Lakewood,  Long Beach,  Lynwood,  Maywood,  Montebello,  Norwalk,  Paramount,  Pico Rivera,  Santa Fe Springs,  Signal Hill,  South Gate,  Vernon and Whittier.

West Basin Water District includes: Carson, El Segundo, Gardena, Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach, Inglewood, Lawndale, Lomita, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, and Torrance.