UC Davis is suing the Solano County Water Agency over a new contract that would more than triple the cost of agricultural water delivered from Lake Berryessa. For 36 years, the campus paid $16,000 a year for Berryessa water. Now the agency wants to hike the water bill to $57,280 annually. The water agency board was expected last night to allow the university to sign a new 25-year water contract that would allow the pricing mechanism to be settled later in court, according to both university representatives and David Okita, water-agency general manager. If signed, the contract would allow UC Davis to receive water beginning in mid-April, when the growing season begins. The university uses 4,000 acre feet of Berryessa water delivered by the Putah South Canal for agricultural land located west of Highway 113 and south of Interstate 80. The fields are used for teaching and research. UC argues that the water agency is charging the campus the capital, operation and maintenance costs of the entire 30-mile Putah South Canal. However, water is delivered to Davis via only the first three miles of the canal, before it extends west into Solano County. "Davis shouldn't pay for the capital, operation or maintenance costs of the portions of the canal that don't actually serve the campus," said Anthony Barron, a partner in the San Francisco law firm of Thelen, Reid and Priest, which represents the UC regents on various utility-related claims. The campus claims that such charges are unreasonable and in violation of California statutes that were enacted to protect UC from such overcharges. Since 1962, when the last contract was signed, UC Davis has paid $4 per acre foot for irrigation water--$2.65 in the basic water charges that remain in the new contract, and $1.35 as a surcharge. California Medical Facility, the state prison in Vacaville, has paid the same amount for irrigation water and $20 per acre foot for water used for domestic consumption. The new contract calls for charging UC Davis and the prison $14.32 per acre foot and makes no price distinction between water used for irrigation and that used for domestic purposes. The price would vary each year, depending on water-agency expenses associated with the Putah South Canal. The Solano County Water Agency maintains that the price increase is fair because, while campus and prison costs have remained the same, the other entities that buy water through the agency, including Solano County cities and Solano Irrigation District, have supported the district through property taxes that have greatly increased as assessed values have grown. "The way we set up the formula, all of the water users are paying the equivalent amount," Okita said. The Davis campus receives water through several sources. Besides the Berryessa water, the agricultural fields receive irrigation water from wells. Russell Ranch has its own well system and also draws water from both Putah Creek and Cache Creek (transferred through the Willow Canal). In addition, domestic water for the central campus comes from wells 1,000 to 1,500 feet deep, while campus landscaping is irrigated using shallower wells.