The San Diego County Water Authority approved a water rate increase for calendar year 2020 purchases by SDCWA member agencies.
The new rates approved by the water authority board June 27 will increase the cost per acre-foot on a countywide basis from $1,617 to $1,686 for treated water and from $1,341 to $1,406 for untreated supply. The increases equate to 4.3 percent for treated water and 4.8 percent for untreated water.
The new rates also include an 18.3 percent increase in the Infrastructure Access Charge which is used for SDCWA fixed expenditures incurred even when water use is reduced.
The water authority’s member agencies have the option of absorbing the rate increases or passing on the additional cost to customers.
The rates are based on a melded rate which combines the cost of water delivered from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, water purchased from the Imperial Irrigation District under the Quanitification Settlement Agreement, and water produced by the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant.
The water authority also has transportation, storage, and customer service charges along with fees and charges for fixed expenditures which are incurred even when water use is reduced. Debt coverage targets are also incorporated into the water auhtority’s rate structure; they have a target debt coverage ratio, or ratio of cash available to debt obligation, of 1.5:1 for senior lien debt and 1.4:1 for overall debt.
The Metropolitan Water District increased the cost of treated water by 2.7 percent and its untreated water by 3.3 percent. MWD costs also include a “wheeling” charge to transport the Quantification Settlement Agreement water through the MWD aqueduct system, which will increase by 6.4 percent. The Quantification Settlement Agreement included scheduled rate increases over the multi-decade agreement period; the price of IID water is now tied to an inflation index. IID deliveries will increase from 160,000 acre-feet during Calendar Year 2019 to 192,500 acre-feet for Calendar Year 2020.
The desire to avoid steep increases has also led to raising rates over a multi-year period to cover a specific cost, and the CWA also has a rate stabilization fund which allows increases to be spread over multiple years. The CWA will draw $38 million from its rate stabilization fund for Fiscal Year 2019-20, which will reduce next year’s rates by approximately $95 per acre-foot, and will also draw 10,000 acre-feet of operational storage.
The CWA’s rate per acre-foot of untreated water for municipal and industrial (M&I) customers will increase from $909 to $925. The untreated water rate was $365 during 2007, $390 for 2008, $463 in 2009, $532 for 2010, $597 during 2011, $638 for 2012, $714 in 2013, $732 during 2014, $764 for 2015, $780 in 2016, $855 during 2017, and $894 in 2018.
The CWA also utilizes a melded rate for treatment based on the cost to purchase treated water from MWD, the cost of desalinated water from the Carlsbad desalination plant, and the cost to treat water at the Twin Oaks, Olivenhain, and Levy treatment plants (the Levy plant is owned and operated by the Helix Water District, and the CWA purchases treated water from Helix). The surcharge for treated water was increased from $276 to $280; that surcharge was $164 in 2008, $168 during 2009, $215 in 2010 and 2011, $234 during 2012, $256 in 2013, $274 for 2014, $278 in 2015, $280 during 2016, $290 in 2017, and $300 for 2018.
The Special Agricultural Water Rate for untreated water which was increased from $731 to $755 per acre-foot was $412 in 2009, $484 for 2010, $527 during 2011, $560 for 2012, $593 in 2013 and 2014, $582 for 2015, and $594 during 2016, $666 for 2017, and $695 for 2018. The rate per acre-foot for SAWR treated water was $580 in 2009, $699 during 2010, $742 in 2011, $794 for 2012, $849 in 2013, $867 for 2014, $860 during 2015, $874 in 2016, $956 for 2017, and $995 in 2018 and will increase from $1,007 for 2019 to $1,035 in 2020.
The CWA’s transportation rate is a uniform rate set to re¬cover capital, operating, and maintenance costs of the CWA’s aqueduct system and will increase from $120 to $132 per acre-foot.
