2022 Candidate for Congress: Former Santee councilman blames bad management for high water rates
Stephen Houlahan's solution: 'We need fresh ideas, not people that have been there so long that they need to go.'
Former Santee city council member Stephen Houlahan is running for Congress in 2022 as a Democrat. After speaking to the Padre Dam Municipal Water District in favor of an extension for past-due ratepayers affected by the pandemic, I asked him about high water rates in East County and San Diego County in general, the Carlsbad desalination plant, drought, and other water management issues. The interview transcript was edited for clarity.
Surf City Voice: Since you brought it up, on the issue of the cost of water, the San Diego County Water Authority (CWA) in June passed a budget to increase what it charges for imported water to its member agencies by about six percent. So right now, for treated water it's around $1800 an acre-foot. And about, I believe it was, $1,600 or $1,700 now for untreated. That's about a $500 or $600 s mark-up more than what Orange County local retail agencies are charged [by the Municipal Water District of Orange County] as an add-on to water imported from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Why is that? I'm asking you because you talked about the high price [of water] here. So what do you think of that?
Stephen Houlahan: I think it's bad management. I think that that the board has traditionally raised the price whenever they can. Water prices are higher than ever. When we conserve, then they use the same exact argument that now they're not making enough money and they raise the price then too. And so if we use the water we get a high price. If we conserve, then they need to make up the shortfall. So it's nice to have a beautiful park like we have here with the Santee Lake. I come here often. It's been here since the 70s. It's an excellent price since the 60s. But part of their model has been to expand and to develop. And so the problem is [that] they want to capture more market share. In order to do that, they charge higher prices to the ratepayers and then that's how they are able to increase their footprint to make their business larger.
Surf City Voice: What's your opinion on the [ocean] desal plant in Carlsbad? The prices ($2,800-$3,000 an acre-foot) there are, depending on if you're in Orange County, about two to four times the cost of imported water.
Stephen Houlahan: It is extremely expensive. It's a great backup plan. I think Camp Pendleton also has a desal.
Surf City Voice: They don't have it, but it's floating proposal.
Stephen Houlahan: So probably it's a good plan for worst case scenario. It takes a lot of energy to make it happen. Salt and water are two of the most caustic substances. Those destroy things. So it's high operation expense. And we also are looking at a huge shortage of imported water. We're looking at water rights being diminished for Arizona and Nevada. And so we basically have an unsustainable model at this point. And we have unfettered sprawl development plans. And so it's just bad government all around. There was no water shortage when I was a kid because there's far fewer of us here. But, you know, it's kind of like that phenomenon: build it and they will come. And so if we continue to build out into the hills, build on every square inch without really good planning, then we're going to continue to suffer.
Surf City Voice: Water usage has actually gone down. Not just per capita, but the overall [use] has gone down.
Stephen Houlahan: And it’s fascinating that it costs more.
Surf City Voice: Yeah, it cost more.
Stephen Houlahan: I know I use a lot less of it.
Surf City Voice: And there are new projects [planned] now. Also, because of the recent lawsuit that the Water Authority won [vs. Metropolitan Water District of Southern California], it could actually get 100,000 acre-feet [of treated water] from Metropolitan at about half the price or less than desal water, for example. And we have more water stored in Southern California than ever now, despite the drought.
Stephen Houlahan: And we have more people than ever.
Surf City Voice: And more people than ever. So are these new projects going to become stranded assets? How are we going to deal with this? And they (water districts) want to keep having more and more water.And as you said, more and more development. Where does this all end?
Stephen Houlahan: Well, I got to say, where it does end, at least as a former city council member, was bringing term limits to that council. I think that's a good way to start moving people out of these government offices, getting people who are more able to understand the plights, the trials and tribulations of the common man on the board, say, for the Padre Dam board. People stepping up and running for office. I think also as a former city council member, I saw a lot of bad planning. So I brought forth a law which was a general plan protection initiative. So it was basically locked in the general plan. We need people to step up and start to participate in government. And so as long as people don't participate [in government], these things will continue to happen. And we have people that are going to make things up on the dais, and they're just going to say, 'Well, this is what I believe and this is a fact.' And I watched it happen for years as a city council member. And I watched members of the body I was part of just make up their own facts believe whatever they wanted to believe, and it could be mostly seeded in fantasy.
Stephen Houlahan: They [Padre Water Board] said today they're not a business. They said they're not they're not for profit. Last time [July 7 board meeting] they said they were business and they need to make the money. So which is it? And then it is nothing personal, but I am a ratepayer and I do pay a very high rate for water and I use less water than ever. Half the time I got to fight with my kid, who's 11, to get him to go take a shower. And then on the other hand I'm thinking, well, maybe it's going to save me a few pennies. So I know we've been reduced to, you know, to being dirt farmers out here. It also hurts our property value. So there was a comment saying that our property values have gone up the most ever. But guess what happened in 2008? Property values went down. So what can go up, can come down. But the water rates never come down. So that's where we find ourselves. It [desal] seems like a great idea, but it's very energy inefficient. It's very expensive. It's a huge capital expenditure. I do support the use of reclaimed water because basically all our water is recycled. There's not a drop of water that comes down the Colorado River that didn't go in and out of another municipality. Let's just face it.
Stephen Houlahan: So it [water] is all recycled in some manner or form. But right now we're looking at Lake Mead, Lake Powell, at the lowest levels they have been, huge bathtub rings around [them]. We're looking at wildfires, et cetera, all across northern California, Oregon, the whole Pacific Northwest. So it is serious. And we're looking at a situation of water wars, fighting with—you know, I'm sure Arizona is not too happy trying to be at the end of the spigot. And Nevada as well. California has a higher level of water rights than both of those states. But other states have already made it very clear that they don't want to provide a water pipeline from their water to us. And so and again, that will be a huge capital expense. So it goes back to just good planning. It goes back to ending sprawl development, [which] is bad all around. We have to protect our general plans. We have to start cycling through the politicians. They need to go. We need new people. We need new ideas. We need fresh ideas, not people that have been there so long that they need to go. And everyone just has to accept that.