San Diego considers water budget-based billing

The City of San Diego implemented mandatory water use restrictions last summer for fiscal year 2010 when the County Water Authority set a target water reduction level of 8 percent. At the conclusion of the fiscal year, water consumption has declined by more than 11 percent.

 

Mayor Jerry Sanders and his team researched commodity-based pricing to incentivize water conservation “without inadvertently penalizing our customers who have already been using water efficiently,” he said in a memorandum dated Sept. 8.

 

The city focused on an alternative form of allocation and pricing based on a water budget that factors in landscape area, weather conditions, number of residents, and other factors specific to the property. The city tested this formula in three zones, representing coastal, central and inland communities.

 

The next step in determining the feasibility of instituting water budget-based billing citywide is to expand the initial research effort and to validate the initial results and conclusions.