The Irvine Ranch Water District budget based rate structure adopted in 1991 was designed to achieve the dual objectives of promoting water conservation while maintaining revenue stability. It is a foundational tool in IRWD’s successful water efficiency program and has resulted in significant water use reductions. Since 1991 the average daily water use for an IRWD residential customer has fallen from 170 gallons per day to approximately 86 gallons per day in 2014 and customers continue to be rewarded with the one of the lowest rates in Orange County.

At IRWD, the cost of water supplied to customers is based on the actual quantity of water used and the cost to IRWD to purchase these water supplies. Customers who use less water are rewarded with lower rates because IRWD can utilize low cost local sources of water. Customers who use more water have higher bills because of the need for IRWD to purchase more expensive imported water. Each customer pays their fair share, no more or no less.

IRWD assesses a monthly fixed charge based upon meter size. This fixed charge provides adequate funding for all fixed operating costs other than the water commodity itself and the District’s water use efficiency and related programs. Debt service payments are paid from sources related to capital development. As such, IRWD enjoys revenue stability and our ability to make debt service payments is not impacted regardless of the amount of water sold or the degree of conservation experienced from customers’ water use efficiency practices.

Lastly, imported water is IRWD’s most expensive source of supply. IRWD has made significant investments in water conservation, recycled water, and other water supply reliability projects, which have reduced imported water from 62% to a low of 23% percent in 2014. This reduction in the District’s dependence on imported water helps keep water rates low.

For more information on IRWD’s successful water conservation program, please visit http://www.irwd.com

Related Information:

Background:   IRWD Asks Customers to Voluntarily Reduce Water Use by 20 Percent

In response to a statewide drought declaration by Governor Brown, the Irvine Ranch Water District Board of Directors adopted a resolution asking all IRWD customers to voluntarily reduce their water use by 20%.  This voluntary conservation effort will help reduce demand on current statewide water supplies and extend water reserves if the drought continues for an extended period.  

One of the Irvine Ranch Water District’s greatest assets is its employee base and the District can surely demonstrate longevity among its workforce. Three employees will reach a 30-year milestone of employment with the District this year and 11 of them have logged more than 30 years. One of them is Lester Busald, who achieved 35 years of service in early January. Busald is an Operations Supervisor at the Michelson Water Recycling Plant.

“I was 20 when I started, so I can honestly look back and say I grew up here,” Busald said.

He began his long IRWD career as a Utility Worker at the plant. This involved doing any job asked of him - even if it meant climbing into the four small circular clarifiers and scrubbing the algae off the walls before the peak wastewater flow came in.

“In those days, the plant was at four million gallons per day,” he recalled. “Peak flow would be a little more than seven million.”

For all of his 35 years, Busald had worked in wastewater treatment. When he was hired in 1979, there were three shifts working at the Michelson plant. Emerging computer technology eventually rendered three shifts unnecessary. Stand-by plant operators now respond to problems at the plant from home with the click of a mouse.

As the new employee, Busald spent his first eight months on the graveyard shift. Prior to IRWD, Busald worked for an aerospace company in Anaheim, where he grew up. Coming to work at IRWD allowed him to get married later that year.

Over the years, Busald has moved up from the entry level position to the one he holds today – Operations Supervisor. He has been involved in every plant upgrade since that time, including development of the Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, construction of the circular clarifier, to the current expansion of the plant which will process 28 millions of wastewater per day.

As various aspects of the new plant infrastructure go online, Busand and all of the operators undergo extensive training. The plant currently processes 20 mgd. He has received training on the new headworks and the high-rate clarifier. He and his fellow operations supervisor, Dave Hayden, oversee various portions of the plant. Busald and his five operators are responsible for the new headworks, high-rate clarifier and the older section of the plant. He is looking forward to training on the new membrane bioreactor.

Construction at the plant, which began in 2009, is expected to wrap up in May. More information on MWRP and the construction progress may be found on our website.

Student artists, photographers and digital artists in the Irvine Ranch Water District service area are invited to participate in various contests that showcase their skills. Announcements have been sent to all of the local schools, inviting students in kindergarten through fifth grade to participate in the annual “Water is Life” poster contest. Students in grades six through 12 have the opportunity to enter the Water Awareness Photography and Digital Arts Contest.

IRWD has a great track record – last year, there were five poster winners in the K-5 category, one slogan winner and one in the digital category.

The deadline for kindergarten through fifth grade students to enter their art work is Thursday, March 20. Students participating through the Irvine Unified School District may send their completed posters to Brad Van Patten’s office at the District office on Barranca Parkway.

Contest rules include:

• Use 12 X 18 white paper. Newsprint and larger sizes will not be accepted.
• Students must leave a one inch white border on all four sides.
• Crayons, markers, ink, poster paint, pastels, chalk, water color or cut paper or fabric may be used. Brighter colors photograph best.
• Horizontal (landscape) format only.
• Include a brief water message (be sure to check spelling!)
• Original art work only – no copyrighted material. Be creative!
• Do not put student’s name on the front of the poster.
• Back of poster must have an entry form with student’s information and signed parental release.

Students entering the “Water is Life” poster contest could have their art work published in the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s 2015 calendar.

The deadline for sixth through 12^th grade students to enter the photography and digital arts contest is Friday, March 29. The theme is “Thirst”, with the goal of getting students thinking about the importance of our most valuable resource – water. For example, why is water vital for our way of life, or how can we help save water during a drought? Some rules include:

• All files must be submitted in JPG, PNG, or PDF format and should be no larger than 10 megabytes in size.
• Photographs and digital art work should be medium to high resolution (300 dots per inch or higher.)
• Computer-generated art work can be created using Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator, Microsoft Publisher/PowerPoint, or any other graphics program.
• Only original art work will be accepted. Submissions must not contain images created by anyone other than the student.
• Entries must be emailed to digitalarts@mwdoc.com, or post entries to the Municipal Water District of Orange County facebook page. In the email subject line, type: Digital Arts Contest.
• In the body of the email, include: student’s name; grade level; school name; teacher’s name; home phone number and email address.
• Include two-three sentences explaining how the art work/photograph was created.

Please visit our website for contest entry forms and more information.