SANTEE, Calif. — Padre Dam customers in East San Diego County are fed up, saying their water bills are way too high. This comes as rates are set to go up on July 1.
Right now, Padre Dam customers pay more for water than anyone else in the county. Their bills are also among the highest in the nation.
"Why are we paying so much? It doesn't add up," said customer, Kim Hart.
When Hart moved to Santee seven years ago, one of the first things she noticed is how high her water bills are.
“For water alone….$37. But to get it to my house, it's $53," said Hart.
Hart lives in a two-bedroom condo, and she says her usage is conservative. For example, when she needs hot water, she saves cold water as it's heating up, and uses that to water her plants.
“I don’t let it waste," Hart said.
Greg Benjamin is another unhappy Padre Dam customer as his monthly bill averages between $125 and $200. "I'll give it to Padre Dam for giving us good water. It's just really expensive," said Benjamin.
According to a survey done by the Otay Water District last year, Padre Dam has the highest water rates in San Diego County with an average monthly bill of $136.98, based on 2021 data.
That figure doesn’t include sewage costs, which are often higher than water.
A separate survey conducted in 2017 by foodandwaterwatch.org listed Padre Dam as having the second highest rates in the nation behind Monterey, California.
Hart and Benjamin are among several people who recently sounded off on Nextdoor, ahead of a three percent rate hike set to go into effect July 1..
"I think publicly we need to ban together. We need to be a group and fight," said Hart.
CBS8 has reached out to the Padre Dam Municipal Water District with a series of questions regarding the high rates. Their responses are below:
Regarding its national ranking, a spokesperson wrote:
It is important to note that the survey/report you are referencing only looked at 500 community water systems throughout the US. Yet, California alone has over 400 community water systems.
Therefore, the survey results are not comprehensive. Additionally, the District does not know how the rates were calculated for this survey to confirm accuracy of the numbers reported.
Can you confirm that Padre Dam increased water rates again?
Water, sewer and pumping rates for bills mailed on or after July 1, 2023 will include cost increases from the San Diego County Water Authority (CWA), City of San Diego Metro Wastewater System (Metro) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E). All rate increases are pass-through increases from our wholesale service providers.
It is necessary to pass-through these costs to ensure there are sufficient revenues to provide services to District customers, maintain the safety and reliability of infrastructure, and avoid deficits. All three external providers raised their rates in 2023 - 100% of the pass-through increases will be used to pay these higher rates. None of the revenue from rate increases will be used for Padre Dam internal costs.
Additional pass-through rate information and new rates effective July 1, 2023 can be found here: https://www.padredam.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=297.
What, if anything, does the district have to say about the high rates and claims the district is among the highest in the country?
In 2022, Padre Dam’s Board of Directors unanimously approved a zero percent revenue increase for the District’s water and wastewater operations over the next five years - for Fiscal Years 2023-2027. This means the internal portion of our rates for Padre Dam customers will remain flat over this five year period. The decision to adopt this approach to not increase revenue for the next five year period was based on the Board’s desire to minimize customer rate impacts as well as the District’s current strong financial position of the water and wastewater operation funds.
CBS8 has seen in recent news articles, water district representatives from Padre Dam say much of this is the elevation and terrain in East SD County. Is this still the reason for the high rates?
There are four important unique rate factors for Padre Dam. The District has significant elevation changes of up to 2,646 feet. Second, Padre Dam has a large service area per customers. The size of a service area directly impacts the cost of services due to the need for longer pipelines. Third, most of the District’s revenue is from rates. Padre Dam does not have much growth to receive development revenue or other external income sources.
Lastly, but of great importance, is that Padre Dam imports 100 percent of our drinking water supply at this time. The majority of this drinking water travels hundreds of miles from the Sacramento Bay Delta and the Colorado River.
This is part of the many reasons why the East County Advanced Water Purification Project is so important. This important project will produce up to 30 % of East County’s drinking water supply locally beginning in 2026. This has many benefits – reducing dependence on costly imported water and helps control both water and wastewater costs locally. This project is a collaborative effort by Padre Dam, City of El Cajon, County of San Diego and Helix Water District.
But, customers like Hart and Benjamin say that's not enough, and there has to be a better solution.
"Why do they keep passing everything along to the consumer? I get a little frustrated over that," said Hart.
"They need to lower the overhead. They need to find a way," said Benjamin.
WATCH RELATED: After failed attempt, San Diego plans to 'redeploy' smart water meter program (April 2023).