How Your Water Bill Is Spent

The District is not a "company" but a unit of local government. As such, it does not make a "profit."

Of our basic water rate only about 9% stays with the district. The rest goes to pay the wholesale cost of water to Metropolitan Water District and San Diego County Water Authority. In addition, we collect a monthly service charge to cover about half of our fixed costs we incur regardless of how much water you buy, such as reading the meters and keeping the reservoirs and pipelines ready for our customers. Of the small amount we keep, we maintain about 300 miles of water mains and 42 reservoirs, as well as thousands of valves, appurtenances, and fire hydrants, spread over 100 square miles. Any money we have left over is used to replace and enhance our water facilities to help ensure quality water and service to our customers.