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San Diego has some of the most expensive water in California – and in the country. A typical household in San Diego County pays about $80 a month for water, whereas the national average is less than $40, according to a recent survey by the American Water Works Association. Water in California is more expensive than elsewhere, but San Diego still has among the steepest rates in the state, another recent survey found. The priciest supplies are found in Santa Barbara and other communities along the state’s central coast. By all indications, water prices in San Diego will keep rising.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California supplies water to the San Diego County Water Authority from MWD’s Skinner treatment plant, and the SDCWA will be funding the installation of a low-flow meter at the Skinner treatment plant. An April 27 SDCWA board action authorized the installation of the low-flow meter for Pipeline 4 and also authorized the expenditure of $2,630,000 which will cover design, equipment acquisition and construction. “It gives us a lot of flexibility to manage our flows,” Jim Fisher, the SDCWA director of operations and maintenance, said.

In March of 2017, California American Water announced its new Sustainable Landscapes Program in which it encouraged customers of California American Water who are residents of the San Diego region to “take a watershed approach to landscaping their yards.” Partnering with the San Diego County Water Authority, the City of San Diego, County of San Diego, Surfrider Foundation, and the Association of Compost Producers, the mission of the new program set out to be “the go-to resource to assist San Diego County residents in adopting sustainable landscaping best practices through education and training, technical assistance, landscaping materials and financial incentives.”

City of San Diego officials are scheduled to test the water at Birney Elementary School in University Heights on Friday to determine if repairs successfully cleared contaminants from the plumbing system. Birney is one of two San Diego Unified School District campuses where elevated levels of lead were discovered in the water. Officials with the city’s Public Utilities Department told the City Council’s Environment Committee that while the city is testing for contaminants, school districts are responsible for making repairs.

Your water bill could be getting more expensive. The San Diego County Water Authority is considering a 3.7% rate hike. Maintaining a low-water yard does not take much work for Dutch Burman. “There’s not much land that needs to be irrigated,” he said, describing his front yard, which has mulch, drought-tolerant palm trees and a low-water irrigation system. During the drought, he scaled back on his water consumption. “My bill has gone down so dramatically because of the conserving,” he said. His last bill came out to about $225, thanking low-flow faucets, toilets and a washer.