Water rates in San Diego County won’t go up next year as sharply as some feared — but the county water authority’s efforts to keep rates low are becoming a significant threat to its credit rating.
A sharply divided water authority board voted Thursday to reduce next year’s rate increase from 18 percent to 14 percent, which eases pressure on local water agencies to raise rates on their customers.
San Diego’s main water seller OK’d a less-doomy price increase than the region was expecting, setting it at 14 percent on Thursday.
To make that work, the San Diego County Water Authority will have to find $2 million it can cut from its budget and delay some anti-earthquake-related upgrades to its biggest aqueducts. Those cuts save ratepayers from an anticipated 18 percent beginning January 1. But 14 percent is still the largest annual rate increase on the wholesale price of San Diego water since 2011, Water Authority records show.
Federal grant funds, a water transfer and budget cuts helped minimize wholesale water-rate increases for 2025 despite inflation and climate impacts that are pushing prices higher.
The San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors on Thursday approved a total increase of 14% in wholesale water rates for next year, while directing a one-year delay on a $7 million capital project and $2 million in additional cuts to the agency’s operating budget.
The state of Baja California will get 200 liters of water per second from the San Diego County Water Authority to help Tijuana residents during the hot summer months.
The water will be delivered through an international line that crosses the border from San Diego to Tijuana.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has awarded Oceanside $15 million to further programs that reduce the city’s reliance on imported water and increase the use of recycled and brackish groundwater sources.
Oceanside is one of San Diego County’s leaders in the use of purified wastewater, which is injected into the underground water table and later removed along with the brackish groundwater and filtered for use in the local drinking water supply.
When it comes to gardening, there are people who impulsively strike out on their own, cheerfully assured that all they need to do is choose some cool plants, put them in the ground and water them — and the results will be perfect harmony. And then there are others for whom research is part of the thrill and they couldn’t imagine not having the whole process mapped out.
Dean Williams is among the latter group of precise, organized and research-driven gardeners, one who is now joyful and enthusiastic in his achievement, especially because he had a plan and it worked.
Two separate 5-0 Rainbow Municipal Water District board votes June 25 approved an increase for water and wastewater rates and an increase in capacity fees. Water rates will increase by approximately 4.5% while wastewater rates will be increased by 13%. The first capacity fee increase in seven years will be 26.4%.
San Diego County’s water world hasn’t had much good news lately, with looming budget problems and whopping rate increases.
Well, here’s some: The state’s new mandatory water conservation plan won’t require big reductions locally. That’s due mostly to decades of spending on recycling, desalination, storage, conservation and imported supplies.
The United States Bureau of Reclamation has recommended a $6 million grant to a coalition of local water and wastewater agencies to develop reused water infrastructure in the region.
If approved by Congress, the North San Diego Water Reuse Coalition will use the funds to support its Regional Recycled Water Program: 2020 Project, which seeks to increase water reuse in the region through expanded recycled water infrastructure.
There’s a new effort to bring a bit of well-deserved recognition to some people who have made a big difference after the major water main break in Calgary.
After volunteering to deliver water to seniors and people with disabilities, Paul Godard set out to collected donated gifts to send to water officials in San Diego. They helped ease Calgary’s crisis by shipping up a couple of massive pipes needed for the repair job.
