With the valley’s principal reservoir sitting below its seasonal average for the second consecutive year, the water district has floated a tiered rate structure that would charge the heaviest household users a steeper price per gallon while leaving basic usage largely untouched. District staff presented the outline at a lightly attended workshop this week, well before any formal vote.
How the tiers would work
Under the draft, every account would receive a baseline allocation priced at the current rate. Usage above that baseline would move into higher-priced tiers, with the steepest charges reserved for the top bracket, which district figures attribute largely to irrigation and pool refills in the dry months.
- Tier one: essential household use, priced at today’s rate
- Tier two: moderate overage at a modest premium
- Tier three: high-volume use at the steepest per-gallon charge
Staff framed the plan as a conservation tool rather than a revenue grab, and pledged that any surplus would be ringfenced for leak repair on the aging distribution mains, which lose an estimated share of treated water before it reaches a tap. Whether that pledge survives contact with a budget cycle is a fair question, and one we intend to keep asking.
The district will hold at least two public sessions before any decision. We will post the draft rate schedule and the reservoir level chart alongside this article so readers can check the numbers themselves.
Related: Environment & Land · the sinking river flats
Further reading: How reservoirs work
