City of Rochester
News Release
(Wednesday, April 6, 2011) – Acting Mayor R. Carlos Carballada submitted legislation to City Council today requesting authorization to enter into a 25-year water exchange agreement with the Monroe County Water Authority (MCWA), guaranteeing another generation of area residents and water customers an abundance of clean drinking water at a reasonable cost.
“Rochester and Monroe County are fortunate to have access to multiple, high-quality and affordable fresh water sources,” said Acting Mayor Carballada. “This agreement will help to ensure stable rates for our customers for the future.”
“The proposed agreement provides a price structure for exchanging water and sharing capital costs in a manner that benefits both parties,” said Paul Holahan, Commissioner of the City’s Environmental Services Department. “We are building on our long history of excellent cooperation to do what’s best for the water ratepayers.”
The new “buy-sell” agreement enables the exchange of billions of gallons of water between the two systems at an established rate and optimizes the availability of water to the city and county. The City and the MCWA will each produce, supply and make available to the other party up to 26 million gallons of water per day.
The City and the MCWA operate a highly-integrated regional water supply and distribution system and have shared the area’s water resources for more than six decades. For the past several years, the existing exchange agreement has been renewed on an annual basis; this agreement alleviates the uncertainties inherent with such short-term agreements.
Under the new agreement, the City and MCWA will continue to share certain capital costs for system improvements that benefit the customers of both entities. The agreement also guarantees that each party has an adequate supply of high-quality water, even in high demand or drought conditions.
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News Media: For more information, contact City Environmental Services Commissioner Paul Holahan at 428-6855 or City Water Bureau Director Robert Morrison at 428-6782.