by John Davis, KUAM NewsSaturday, July 05, 2008 Subscribe to John's newsfeed
Island residents can expect to see more than their water bill in the mail as the Guam Waterworks Authority is informed ratepayers of the establishment of a Systems Development Charge. The new fee will only apply to those who connect to GWA's public water and wastewater for the first time or existing user who wish to increase their capacity.The purpose of the Systems Development Charge or SDC is to recover costs associated with constructing, expanding, upgrading and repairing the system to accommodate the new users and users who are placing an additional burden upon GWA's system. CCU Chairperson, Simon Sanchez stated, "We use the system development charge to help offset or reduce the cost that is needed to add more water production capability, like wells or surface water plants or more wastewater capability, like the expansion of Agana, the upgrade at Dededo or even Baza Gardens." With the SDC in place, GWA will not have to increase existing rates for rate payers. An $8,000 fee has been established for residential users and a $1 million fee for hotels, as well as other fee schedules based on demand needs.Sanchez added, "The larger your meter, the more you'll consume, therefore; you'll need more water resources for capacity to support you and the more wastewater you would generate and you would need wastewater capacity to handle the additional growth." Sanchez said the PUC will discuss the approval of the S-D-C at their next regulatory session in September, where they will also give their recommendations whether to maintain, lower or increase the Sewer Development Charge amount.