San Diego City Council voted 6-2 in favor of a 6.5 percent increase in water rates again in March after a public hearing was held on January 24.

The vote was held at in down town San Diego at the city’s administration building where more than 13,000 signed protest forms were submitted. However, it would have taken a majority of the city’s 3 million people to submit protest forms for the rate to be prohibited. The new rates will increase about $3.30 on the average house holds monthly bill, about a $40 after a year.

Currently San Diego gets 85-90 percent of its water from the San Diego County Water Authority (CWA) who gets their water from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD). The MWD has increased its water rates and passed them along to CWA, and San Diego council members voted to pass the fees along to the people at the conclusion of the public hearing on Jan. 24.

On April 14, 2009 the MWD approved a 19.7 percent rate increase and agreed to cut deliveries by 10 percent because of drought and environmental restrictions water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River. MWD’s vote not only effects San Diego but parts of Los Angeles, orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties. So the city’s and its people will continue to pay more money for less water.

A water rate increase is nothing new to San Diego. The city’s water prices have been rising since 2007, at which time the monthly charge was at around $43 for the average household. The projected rate for this March is said to be at $72, a 68 percent increase.

San Diego has been improving on conserving water according to the CWA’s website. Since 2007, San Diego has reduced its water usage by about 60 billion gallons but the rates still go up. It takes 325,900 gallons to support two single family homes for a year.

In June 2009 Mayor Jerry Sanders declared that San Diego was in a stage 2 water crisis and that “As a community, we need to come together and conserve this valuable resource.”

The following year, San Diegan’s were able to come together and reduce water use by about 26 billion gallons, enough to support 160,000 families for a year. Now in 2011 the community is going to receive rate hikes for its fourth year in a row.

For some students here at Mesa like Donna Keydash, who lives with her husband and has a pool in her backyard, the new rate increase is not of a big concern.

“If I’m only looking at 40 bucks a year it’s not that big of a deal to me” said Keydash.
Instead she is more interested in what the CWA is doing to find new water sources. Currently Southern California gets 30 percent of its water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta but with the decline of the delta’s ecosystem there have been restrictions placed on water supply deliveries and pumping in that area.

Like Keydash, Mesa student Marang Manjang finds the new rate increase nothing to worry about. “It’s included in [our] rent and rent hasn’t gone up” said Manjang.

Other students like Tamarah Owens say living on their own and having to pay more for water is unsettling.

“I completely understand that water prices are probably rising due to the fact that we are still in a drought” said Owens, “Hopefully it will convince people to use less water.”

The rate increase will take affect starting March and San Diego City Council is still planning on another rate hike next year.