by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - With a District Court order outlining the specific deadlines to complete various projects in an amended stipulated order, the Guam Waterworks Authority now has five to seven years to come up with as much as $300 million. Consolidated Commission on Utilities chair Simon Sanchez says that money is needed to pay for the projects to bring GWA's waste water systems into compliance.

The bottom line is that means water bills will go up significantly. Said Sanchez, "In order to do that, the rate increase that we calculated when we were negotiating this settlement, it suggests that water bills could double before the end of the decade...so rates are going to have to go up a little faster than we would have liked. But by the end of the decade, all of our waste water plants will be in compliance and we will end decades of having untreated waste water going into our oceans."

$200 million will go toward rebuilding the Southern Waste Water System, which is in Agat, Baza Gardens and Malesso to bring them into compliance with EPA standards. GWA has already invested $30 million for new sewer outfalls for the Northern and Agana Waste Water Treatment Plants.

Sanchez says the rate increase will have to start in Fiscal Year 2013.