Overwhelming Number of Residents Participate in Water District Survey

More than 500 customers participated in an online survey sent out to customers in August, water district officials and representatives from Flint Strategies, the firm that facilitated the survey, said in a recent press release.

That is much higher than expected. When the survey was announced in July, Kendall Flint, a consultant with Flint Strategies, said they had hoped to receive between 250-350 completed surveys. The actual number of completed surveys they received was 520 - nearly double what they anticipated, said Flint, who called the response "overwhelming."

Water District general manager David Dickson said, this just goes to show how many customers are interested in water district operations.

Results showed that 84 percent of survey-takers are unclear as to how the district spends its money. Dickson said, the water district wants to change that.

“We want our customers to have a clear understanding regarding our operations, investments, infrastructure and overall management”, he said. “We used the survey to learn about our customer’s concerns and identify the best ways to communicate the information they want.”

The survey was sent to more than 2,700 customers, and a link was provided on the district’s website.

Four out of five of survey respondents said they want to receive information about billing and water rates. Nearly 74 percent said they are very interested in water quality. Eighty percent of respondents said "reliability of service" was more important to them than cost. And, 64 percent characterized overall customer service as "good" or "excellent," with 16 percent calling it "average" and just 4 percent calling it "poor" or "fair."

The District has posted the complete survey results on its website at www.coastsidewater.org.

Dickson said, he hopes this survey is the beginning of a new trend toward better communication between the Water District and its customers.

“We have a responsibility to our rate payers to provide complete transparency in all of our operations,” added Dickson. “People need to be given enough information so that they are confident that our rates are appropriate and necessary to ensure the consistent delivery of high-quality, safe drinking water.”

The serves the City of Half Moon Bay and part of the unincorporated area of San Mateo County including Miramar, Princeton By The Sea and El Granada. The District’s service territory encompasses approximately 14 square miles and serves nearly 20,000 people. The system consists of two water treatment plants, 17 miles of transmission pipeline, 83 miles of distribution pipeline, several water storage tanks and other equipment.

To receive news feeds about Half Moon Bay and the unincorporated Coastside between Montara and Pescadero, visit Half Moon Bay Patch on Facebook and "like" us here. Follow us on Twitter here.