California Water Rates Rise As Cities Lose Money In Drought

The financial blow is only expected to grow because Gov. Jerry Brown's administration has ordered communities to slash their water use anywhere between 8 and 36 percent compared to 2013 levels in response to the four-year drought. While intensive conservation reduces strains on local water supplies, it can spell trouble for government budgets. Residents in the San Francisco Bay Area, for example, are seeing higher bills after the region's largest water wholesaler increased the price of water 28 percent to make up for lagging sales. Travis Wills, 42, is still paying about $30 a month even after ditching a grassy front lawn for black mulch with sego palms, jasmine and Agapanthus flowers and collecting water from his shower and sink in buckets for plants in his backyard. The East Bay Municipal Utility District, serving 1.3 million customers east of San Francisco, is charging the average household an extra $12 a month to pay for tapping water dozens of miles away near Sacramento and conservation programs. Some water departments are able to weather a drought financially because they designed complicated rates that plan for conservation and cover fixed costs in times of drought.

 

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