In what may be an illegal tax increase, the board of the Metropolitan Water District just approved a two-year budget that doubles the property tax it collects in its six-county service area.
An updated map created by Newsweek shows where millions of residents in southern California counties can expect their water bills to leap by substantial amounts after another water bill rate hike this week.
As Californians brace themselves for scorching summers and decreasing water reserves, a recent announcement has sent ripples of concern through households and businesses all throughout Southern California. The latest water bill hike is set to take effect this summer, and it threatens to burden millions with substantial increases in their monthly expenses.
Metropolitan Water District’s board of directors voted to raise rates, a move that could ultimately affect property taxes and water costs for residents throughout Ventura County.
On April 9, the board agreed to an 8.5% increase for both 2025 and 2026.
This compares to what was proposed as 13% for fiscal year 2024-25 and 8% for fiscal year 2025-26 for untreated water plus a 30% surge in treatment surcharges.
America’s largest water district says declining revenues due to increased water conservation are forcing the agency to significantly raise water rates to remain solvent.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which supplies water for 19 million Americans, is raising its rates 8.5% in 2025 and another 8.5% over baseline levels in 2026. The district’s projections include raising rates an additional 11.5% in 2027 and another 11.5% in 2028 to finance an $8.2 billion water recycling plant that could provide enough annual water for 1.5 million people.
Southern California has seen record rainfall lately, and there’s a healthy snowpack in the Sierra Nevada. But in spite of all the rain and snow, many local consumers can expect to see higher water bills next year.
The water bill is about to go up for many in Southern California. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California plans to raise rates and property taxes over the next two years, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Millions of Southern California residents could see one aspect of their water bill double. On Tuesday, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) passed a budget that solidified rate and property tax increases for its customers over the next two years.
A CWA board vote Thursday, Feb. 22, approved the recommendation of the CWA’s Finance Planning Workgroup. The calendar year 2025 changes include apportioning 40% of the transportation charge as a Transportation Fixed Rate allocated to member agencies by a seven-year rolling average with the current volume-based Transportation Rate designed to recover the remaining 60% of the forecasted annual revenue requirement.
California water agencies including the San Diego County Water Authority are exploring ways to better manage sporadic periods of abundant rainfall — part of a larger effort to meet the ever-changing realities they face logistically and economically.
Water Authority General Manager Dan Denham recently discussed the evolution of regional water management on the Southern California Water Dialogue. The Water Dialogues are a monthly forum exploring water-related issues of regional interest.
The backdrop for the discussion is what many call “climate whiplash” — for instance, when three years of record drought from 2020 to 2022 were followed by abnormally high rainfall in 2023. In the future, California could experience shorter but more extreme wet seasons between periods of drought.
View the webinar here.
At the Water Authority — the agency responsible for long-term water planning in San Diego County — Denham said the lack of regular rainfall and little access to groundwater has forced the Water Authority to be more creative than most water agencies in securing a safe, reliable water supply.
“We embarked upon a 20-to-30-year process to diversify the Water Authority’s supply portfolio. Our board directed a portfolio approach to ensure that we had not only sufficient supplies but also made significant investments in infrastructure,” explained Denham.
“We’ve adopted cutting-edge conservation and techniques. We’ve sponsored legislation at the state level. And we’re at the forefront of many water use efficiency programs,” said Denham.
With those investments and actions as the foundation, the time is right to set a vision for the coming decades. “The future of water in Southern California — of course, reuse is going to be a big component of it — but I do believe a lot of it is going to be sharing resources and developing partnerships,” Denham said.
Signing the historic agreement: Top (L to R): Mel Katz, chair SDCWA Board; Jim Madaffer, Vice Chair Colorado River Board of CA and SDCWA Board member; Gloria Cordero, MWD’s representative to the Colorado River Board; Adan Ortega, chair MWD Board; J.B. Hamby, Chair Colorado River Board of CA. Bottom (L To R): Dan Denham, SDCWA General Manager; Camille Touton, Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; Adel Hagekhalil, MWD General Manager; Jamie Asbury, Imperial Irrigation District General Manager. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority
Denham said investing in a long-term partnership with the Imperial Irrigation District in a water conservation agreement has proved key. “Those types of partnerships have continued and had been successful over the past 20 years,” said Denham.
“This is what our diversification looks like. This is 25 years’ worth of investment in resiliency, transitioning us from an imported water agency with one source of supply to where we’re at today with a really diverse resource mix,” said Denham.
Denham says in addition to maximizing reuse, sharing resources and developing partnerships to share those resources will become vital. The Water Authority signed a landmark agreement with the Metropolitan Water District and the Imperial Irrigation District in late 2023.
“What we were able to do was take advantage of those high runoff years in Northern California, bringing that State Water Project water down to San Diego and leaving some of our Colorado River conserved water in Lake Mead – 50,000-acre feet – which raised the reservoir by six inches. It could not have been done without the partnership that we have in relationships developed over time with the Metropolitan Water District and the Imperial Irrigation District. I look towards more of this to the future,” said Denham.
In October 2003, the San Diego County Water Authority, Coachella Valley Water District, Imperial Irrigation District, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, State of California and U.S. Department of the Interior completed a historic set of agreements to conserve and transfer Colorado River water.
While planning for drought is necessary, it’s also necessary to devise a plan flexible enough to take advantage of high-runoff years.
“What do you do in those high runoff years, in those years of abundance? Some of that speaks to storage,” explained Denham. “The Water Authority has increased its largest surface water storage reservoir. It’s doubled in size. But the Water Authority — like others in the Metropolitan Water District service area in California, is realizing that those surface water storage reservoirs are pretty full.
“What does that speak to next? Flexibility, and the sharing of resources. If our reservoirs are full, or we don’t have the demands for the investments that we’ve made, whether it’s in the Colorado River supplies or the Carlsbad desalination plant, perhaps there’s another partner in Southern California or in the Lower Colorado River Basin that we can exchange supplies with.
“What I mean by that is we do have supplies that can be managed in a different way,” said Denham.
Established in 1998, the Water Dialogue explores the common interests among Southern California water agencies, environmental organizations, and public interest organizations, and serves as a clearinghouse and advocate for projects, activities, and processes that will improve the quality and reliability of Southern California’s water supply.
The Water Dialogue represents members including the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Southern California Watershed Alliance, Sierra Club, West Basin Municipal Water District, Central Basin Municipal Water District, Inland Empire Utilities Agency, Irvine Ranch Water District, Trabuco Canyon Water District, Southern California Water Coalition, Atwater Consulting Group, Jacobs and Caltech/JPL/NASA.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
