La Quinta couple says CVWD water meter policy is all dried up
Water is a precious commodity in California and surprisingly, as a local couple learned, one that can be taken away quite easily if you don’t read the small print.
On a day when temperatures soared into the triple digits, valley homeowners Jim Hubbell and Pam Smith came home to find a technician from the Coachella Valley Water District removing the water meter from their front yard.
These boxes that house the water meter lie in most homeowner’s front lawns. Water boxes are owned by the CVWD but you, the homeowner, is responsible for it. The boxes can not be locked because the utility company requires access to them to determine monthly water consumption. Unfortunately, this also leaves the meters susceptible to anyone walking by with malice on their mind.
This appeared to be the case with Jim and Pam’s meter. The technician informed them it had been tampered with and was broken… and according to district policy had to be removed. The couple says they have been model customers for the district for ten years and were surprised by CVWD taking action without first consulting them. They hadn’t received any notice from the district that something had happened to the meter.
The couple was immediately left without water. After a day of phone calls trying to get their water returned, a water meter supervisor informed them they would need to first pay a stiff fine …”just very matter of fact like he laid out the charges…well it’s $1,000 for tampering, it’s $500 for the breaking of the lock, it’s $390 to replace…it all added up to $2,000.”
It’s a sad truth there are individuals who tamper with water meters. The district in response has implemented a policy to deal with these criminals. According to CVWD, in 2011 there were 166 private homeowner water meter tamperings. After establishing large fines, the district has seen a significant drop in the number of tamperings. So far in 2015 the number stands at 13.
This is good news for the district but bad news for the homeowner who didn’t tamper with the meter on their property. In these situations a homeowner can feel victimized twice. Once by the perpetrator who messed with the meter and then again by the district’s policy, holding the homeowner financially responsible for the tampered meter. CVWD tells us when customers sign up for service they must sign a contract agreeing to cover the costs of damages.
We asked the Coachella Valley Water District what customers can do to avoid finding themselves in a similar situation. This is their response:
“Customers need to be aware of their accepted responsibilities and keep an eye out for anyone on their property that may want to cause potential damage”.
