San Diego, California – The San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) announced Tuesday that while the state’s water supply remains stable, local water rates are still expected to increase by approximately 14% this year.
According to Efren Lopez, Senior Water Resource Specialist for the SDCWA, California’s recent rainy season has contributed to strong water reserves, particularly in Northern California.
“It’s great news for San Diego County,” Lopez stated. “The state’s not going to have any water shortages or mandatory restrictions, so everyone’s free to use water as they need this spring and summer.”
April 1st marks the traditional end of the rainy season and is a key date for measuring the state’s snowpack levels. Currently, the Sierra Nevada snowpack sits at around 90% of its average level, with more snowfall expected. However, Lopez noted that San Diego County relies less on these natural water sources than other regions.
“Here in San Diego, we’re at about 50% of the amount of water we typically should be getting by April 1,” Lopez explained. “Even though we’re happy to see the rest of the state doing great, we don’t depend on natural hydrology like rain and snowpack. We have invested over the past 30 years in reliable, drought-proof supplies. We have the Carlsbad desalination plant, which produces 50 million gallons of ocean water daily.”
Given San Diego’s water security, the SDCWA is now exploring the possibility of transferring water to other areas of the West that may still be facing shortages. However, the details of such transfers remain under discussion.
Even though there’s a current positive outlook for water availability, the cost of water continues to rise. Dan Denham, General Manager of the SDCWA, warned that water rates are expected to increase again this year, similar to last year’s 14% hike.
“Last year was a 14% increase. We started at a point where we were in the high 20s and got it down to 14%. We’re looking at something similar this year, but we’ve just barely started our rate and budget process,” Denham said.
Denham attributed the rising costs to inflation and increasing expenses in key areas such as materials, chemicals, and labor.
“Inflation, the cost of steel, the cost of chlorine, labor, the cost of paying our employees a good wage—all of those things are always going to drive cost increases,” he explained.
As the SDCWA continues its budget planning process, San Diego residents can expect more updates on both water transfers and rate changes in the coming months.
