Wholesale water rates in San Diego County — a key factor in how much local residents and businesses pay for water — will see the smallest hike in years next January, thanks to recent deals selling off excess local supply.
Rates will rise 3% in January, about half the 5.8% hike County Water Authority officials estimated before the water-sharing deals reached this spring with two agencies in Riverside County.
Arizona may soon purchase desalinated Pacific Ocean water to help offset shortages in the Colorado River caused by a decades-long drought. The price tag , however, will likely be very steep unless a long-term deal is struck.
A framework signed June 3 by water authorities in Arizona, California, Nevada and the federal Bureau of Reclamation opens the door for an interstate swap – the first of its kind, according to all parties involved.
The San Diego Water Authority approved a 3% wholesale water rate increase for 2027 on Thursday during a board meeting largely devoid of members of the public.
The utility said an increase is necessary to meet revenue requirements, operational needs and fiscal goals.
California’s acceptance of desalination has ebbed and flowed over the years as the state grapples with shoring up water security in the face of constant drought conditions. Recent discussions over “water swaps” have generated excitement over the possibilities.
While regional water-sharing arrangements between neighboring states and California could result in new desalination facilities, the process of converting seawater into drinking water comes with a host of regulatory hurdles that make planning, permitting and operating reverse osmosis plants extremely challenging in California.
The rate hikes announced Monday will be discussed in a public hearing before the water authority Board of Directors at 9 a.m. on Thursday.
Just a few years ago, San Diego residents were being urged to conserve water as the West grappled with one of the worst droughts in centuries.
Today, the region finds itself in a very different position: exploring ways to help neighboring states facing growing water shortages.
Questions are mounting around a proposed artificial intelligence data center in California’s Imperial Valley because its developer is now seeking Colorado River water, despite earlier saying the project would avoid drawing from the drought-stressed river.
KPBS reported that Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing has gone to court to secure 260 million gallons of water per year from the Imperial Irrigation District — about 750,000 gallons a day — for a planned artificial intelligence complex in the desert.
The San Diego County Water Authority Monday proposed a 3% rate increase for 2027, with similar adjustments tentatively planned through 2032.
SDCWA leaders said while the rate hike was painful, it was actually below the national rate of inflation and a significant decrease from earlier projections — at least partly due to two water-sharing agreements with other agencies signed this spring.
In California, a sprawling 4,000-mile network of canals winds through citrus orchards and fields of tree nuts, delivering irrigation and drinking water to homes and farms across the state.
The canals are critical in an increasingly arid part of the country. But what if they could help fulfill another urgent need: renewable energy?
From a fast-melting snowpack in the Sierra to over-pumped groundwater in the Central Valley and a drought on the Colorado River, California’s water supply is facing enormous pressure. Increasingly, some believe the only real alternative is to draw water from the Pacific Ocean offshore.
Former Water Manager Tim Quinn believes he and his team at OceanWell can do it safely and more affordably.
