Have you ever seen the movie Easy A? It stars Emma Stone and was filmed in my town, Ojai, CA, from 2008–2009, and released in 2010. I will never forget the uncanny experience of watching Easy A with a bunch of other locals in our only movie theater, with the façade of the theater where we sat watching it in scenes before our eyes. I have to say that Ojai is rather proud of its distinctiveness and ties to Hollywood, so in one sense watching “ourselves” on the big screen was just another day of collective navel-gazing; another day in the life of Ojai. But even places with strong local character take their hits. For over a year now there has been no movie theater in town, because in July 2014 a water main broke, flooded the road, caused a sinkhole, putrefied the building’s innards, and left the 100-year-old landmark a hollowed-out shell. No more screen, stage, plush red seating, pictures of movie stars on the walls, or movies. A lawsuit is ongoing and the marquee now has a message addressing the water company followed by “We want our theater back!”
The same summer we lost our theater, a significant main break on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, at the UCLA campus, led to college students body surfing in the flows while cars were filling with water inside parking garages. NBC news reported that “Some 700 cars were damaged after a broken watermain sent a geyser of water some 30 feet into the air, trapping people in underground parking garages and covering some of the best-known parts of campus in water, including the school’s famed basketball arena.” The message of the article, “Who Pays for Damaged Cars After UCLA Water Main Break?” was that drivers with full insurance coverage would fare well, but “anything less than comprehensive coverage and Tuesday’s water main break could turn into water torture, with months of claims and paperwork ahead…Officials with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power have set up a claims process as the agency knows the bills for any damaged vehicles are coming their way. But the process can take a while and should start with your own insurance company.”
I tell these stories to foster brainstorming on approaches to educate ratepayers about the need to maintain—assess, monitor, clean, and proactively repair or replace—water pipes and other infrastructure. When adversities like these happen, the public is likely to be outraged. At the first ripple in a world of great conveniences, many people view the water company as if it has been no more than a necessary evil, ignorant about what participating in the true cost of delivering clean tap water really means.
Value of water education tends to focus on the importance of conservation, but as more pipes burst from age and neglect, it ought to be joined together with a message about collective responsibility for the means of treatment and delivery.
Some municipalities are getting a handle on how to stay strong in all aspects; product manufacturers and software providers are supporting the effort. Our “An Up-Close Look at Our Pipes” and “Non-Revenue Water” articles both discuss assessments, weaknesses, and solutions in detail.
I glimpsed of an exemplary utility when in June, as part of the American Water Works Association’s Annual Conference and Exhibition in Anaheim, CA, I toured the Mesa Water District. Mesa Water relies on local groundwater that meets all standards, but has an amber tint due to a buried ancient redwood forest within the aquifer. The district filters out the reddish particles, encourages conservation, and notably excels at financing and transparency. They are not funded by taxes; rates are broken down into categories that directly reflect actual operational costs, including allocations for capital repair and replacement. Employee pay and benefits, as well as board member compensation, is all clearly visible.
Since 2007 Mesa Water has earned a California Special Districts Association “District of Distinction” accreditation, which recognizes agencies that provide essential public services in a fiscally responsible manner. Polling of customers shows a 90% satisfaction rate. This ought to be as newsworthy as a big main break, with honors worthy of a red carpet celebration.