The rates you pay for water, recycled water and wastewater cannot be higher than the actual cost to provide this service. The City of Carlsbad and Carlsbad Municipal Water District conduct regular “Cost of Service” studies to determine this cost. Some of the things that affect the cost (and your rates) include:

• Increasing cost of buying imported water from the San Diego County Water Authority

• Major investments needed to maintain aging pipes, pumps, treatment facilities and other infrastructure

• The cost of some supplies and materials have doubled in recent years.

Rate increase amounts are different depending on what customer category you fall under (commercial, residential, etc.). With the proposed rate increases, the average monthly water and wastewater bill for a single-family home would increase a total of $24.78 over the next three years. Carlsbad’s rates would continue to remain below the average in the region.

Commercial rates vary widely based upon water use and type of business. Check the rates brochure to determine how your rates will change and when. More information on how to calculate your proposed rate increases is available on the rates webpage.

Rate increases are based on the revenue needs of each utility and are spread fairly across all customers.

The rates you pay for water, recycled water and wastewater cannot be higher than the actual cost to provide this service. The City of Carlsbad and Carlsbad Municipal Water District conduct regular “Cost of Service” studies to determine this cost. Some of the things that affect the cost (and your rates) include:

• Increasing cost of buying imported water from the San Diego County Water Authority

• Major investments needed to maintain aging pipes, pumps, treatment facilities and other infrastructure

• The cost of some supplies and materials have doubled in recent years.

The cost-of-service study evaluated revenues, forecasted costs and changes due to customer water conservation. This information is used to determine what changes are needed to rate amounts and rate structures. The study found that the current rates were not meeting the rising revenue requirements to deliver water and collect and treat wastewater. There were no rate increases for wastewater customers for a period of four years starting in 2016, but wastewater collection and treatment costs have risen.

Rates are structured to distribute the cost of water and wastewater fairly to each customer based on usage. 

Without rate increases, major changes will have to be made to the timelines for infrastructure improvement projects. This could result in more infrastructure failures, including sewage spills and water service interruptions.

There are several organizations that may help eligible customers to lower monthly expenses and provide financial assistance for utility bills and other costs. You can learn more here.

Unfortunately, state law prohibits the City of Carlsbad from using regular revenue to forgive customer debt. The city may only charge rates that are proportional to its costs of providing water to each customer. Since the city must recoup water service costs from all its customers, forgiveness of water bills would therefore mean that some customers would pay more than Carlsbad’s actual cost to provide them water service. 

You can call 442-339-2420 or email water@carlsbadca.gov to learn more.