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Water rates in San Diego next year will go up by the smallest hike since 2014. More than half of that increase is due to rising costs charged by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. That agency and our County Water Authority don’t see eye-to-eye. Jim Madaffer, vice chairman of the Water Authority, stops by NBC 7’s Politically Speaking to walk us through issues that prompted a rate-case lawsuit the authority won in Superior Court , and which MWD has taken to an appeal court.

San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) staff proposed what would equate to a 3.7 percent rate increase for SDCWA water rates, and on May 25 the CWA board set a June 22 hearing date for the proposed 2018 rates. The cost per acre-foot on a countywide basis will increase from $1,546 to $1,603 for treated water and from $1,256 to $1,303 for untreated supply. The proposed rate changes also include replacing a per-acre annexation cost with a single annexation application fee.

It should surprise no one that water is costlier in San Diego County than in many other parts of the state and nation. After all, we are at the literal end of the pipeline in a semi-arid region of 3.3 million people with few significant lakes, rivers or groundwater aquifers. What is surprising is the continued insistence by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California that it will take care of San Diego County’s water needs.

It should surprise no one that water is costlier in San Diego County than in many other parts of the state and nation. After all, we are at the literal end of the pipeline in a semi-arid region of 3.3 million people with few significant lakes, rivers or groundwater aquifers. What is surprising is the continued insistence by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California that it will take care of San Diego County’s water needs.

Baja California is moving ahead with plans to expand and upgrade its failing San Antonio de los Buenos sewage treatment plant, located on Tijuana’s coast, and expects to launch construction next year, a state official said. The project, estimated at $24.7 million, entails the upgrade of existing wastewater treatment ponds at the 30-year-old facility just south of the border with San Diego County. It also involves the construction of a new activated sludge facility on the site.