Yorba Linda Water District customers use more water than expected for 2017-18 fiscal year

Water usage in the Yorba Linda Water District's 22.6-square-mile service area with nearly 80,000 residents jumped 14 percent by the end of the 2017-18 fiscal year over the amount used the prior year.

And that annual consumption was 6 percent greater than the 8 percent increase that had been predicted, according to a staff-prepared 136-page Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, which was reviewed by the district's five elected directors earlier this month.

The district serves most of Yorba Linda and parts of Placentia, Brea and Anaheim, with some 25,040 water and 19,191 sewer connections. Revenues and expenses for the just-completed fiscal year were $37.9 million, with revenues up 7.8 percent and expenses up 7.5 percent.

Water use for the year was 20,386 acre-feet. One acre-foot is equivalent to 325,851 gallons, so customers used more than 6.6 trillion gallons during the year. Seventy percent was from the north county's groundwater basin and 30 percent was from imported sources.

During the current fiscal year, the district expects to use more water from the basin, which is less expensive than imported water. The report noted: “Future financial challenges are likely

to be due to increasing regulatory requirements at both the state and federal levels.”

The statewide executive order “Making Conservation a California Way of Life” will provide a framework for district planning during the current fiscal year that includes “using water more wisely,” “eliminating water waste” and “strengthening local drought resiliency.”

Other report items:

--The district's 25,040 water connections include 23,055 for single-family homes, 256 for multi-family residences, 821 for commercial/industrial and 908 for irrigation. The first two are all-time highs, while the latter two are down from 2012-13 highs.

Residential makes up 92 percent of the customer base, using 73 percent of district water.

--The largest water user is the city of Yorba Linda, which paid a near $2.5 million bill in 2017-18. Next was the Placentia-Yorba Linda school district, paying close to $380,000. Six home-owners associations were in the top 10, along with Aseptic Technology and Placentia-Linda Hospital.

--One comment in an auditors section regarding compliance with bond requirements noted the district didn't obtain an arbitrage report related to one series of revenue bonds that was required within 55 days of an Oct. 1, 2017, bond year-end.

The auditors recommended the district implement procedures to ensure compliance with bond requirements. The district reported completing the requirement Sept. 12, 2018, and added the requirement to an internal reporting schedule “to ensure future compliance.”

--The district's 2016-17 financial reporting garnered a Certificate for Achievement in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association, which district officials hope to also earn for this year's document.