Woes about the water rates

Once again the county board of supervisors rubberstamped a water rate increase for the citizens of Moorpark.

According to a water districtrepresentativeatthe Tues., Feb. 26 meeting, they only received 10 letters of protest. They did not receive any telephone calls protesting the increase. There were only three Moorpark residents at the meeting, including my wife and myself.

The Moorpark Acorn article of Feb. 29 reports that residential customers will receive a Tier 1 rate increase of 9.5 percent while the farmers will receive a $69 per acrefoot increase.

This is certainly not sending a clear picture of the disparity in rates. The reality is that Moorpark residents are subsidizing the farmers. The farmers then can sell their products to supermarkets in other cities at a lower cost.

Also cited as a reason for increasing rates is "low rainfall." It was recently reported that snow pack in the Sierra Nevada Mountains is 130 percent of normal and that they expect all dams and reservoirs to be full. Locally we are way above our average rainfall.

Supervisor Bennett seems to feel that forcing higher prices on the residents of Moorpark will influence our use of water resources. Does he also feel that gasoline prices should be increased to $5 a gallon so people will cut back on their driving? We are in a period of stagflation. It seems unlikely that anyone is wasting anything.

Wake up, residents of Moorpark. Your voices need to be heard. Richard Strawn Moorpark