A sprawling $1.5 trillion fiscal 2022 spending deal is awash in cash for water and natural resources projects, including a number of Republican proposals to gird coastal communities against the effects of climate change.
The omnibus package is the first in years to contain congressionally directed spending, also known as earmarks. Lawmakers revived them under tight rules and only for certain parts of the federal budget.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday will propose spending billions of additional dollars on drought response, wildfire suppression and rural workforce development programs, according to budget documents reviewed by The Sacramento Bee. The governor’s plan includes $750 million in one-time money to help communities affected by the drought, including for water conservation, water efficiency, replenishing groundwater supplies and helping small farmers.
A federal plan to spend $210 million on water conservation programs includes $40 million for “conserving 500,000+ acre-feet of water over the next two years to stabilize the decline of Lake Mead.”
The plan also includes $10 million for efforts to suppress wildfires in the West.
There have been all kinds of efforts and money allocated to trying to solve California’s water woes. Now an organization states it has the solution — the 2 percent solution.
In what it’s calling the 2 percent solution More Water Now is working to place an initiative on the November 2022 ballot that would require 2 percent of the state budget to be allocated to the state’s water resources. If placed on the ballot and approved the water abundance ballot initiative would set aside 2 percent of the state budget to water.
There has been a great deal of water allocated toward dealing with California’s water issues, which includes a $7.5 billion bond measure that was passed by the state’s voters in 2014. But seven years later that bond has done little to place a dent in dealing with the state’s water woes.
Concerned that tens of millions of dollarspromised to help address woes at the Salton Sea could vanish from this year’s state budget, a chorus of Riverside and Imperial County officials this week wrote to Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot politely demanding that the funding stay on track.
“In May, we joined regional leaders in lauding your decision to include $220 million for the Salton Sea as part of a $5.1 billion dollar ‘California Roars Back’ plan,” wrote the president and vice president of the Salton Sea Authority, a joint powers agency comprising area water districts, both counties and the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians.
Chula Vista, Calif. – The Sweetwater Authority Governing Board approved the budget for fiscal year 2021-22 at its June 9, 2021 meeting with a net zero impact to customer rates.
The San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors today adopted a $1.7 billion budget for fiscal years 2022 and 2023 – a 0% change from the current two-year budget – and approved water rates and charges for 2022, following a public hearing.
The all-in rate, which is a blend of fixed and variable rates, will rise by 3.6% for treated water and 3.3% for untreated water in calendar year 2022, due to more rate increases by the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, continued payments for past investments in supply reliability, and inflationary pressures on energy, chemicals, and construction materials. Actual water bills will vary based on customers’ water use, along with factors unique to their local retail water agencies.
The San Diego County Water Authority said Thursday it has adopted a $1.7 billion budget for the next two fiscal years that will keep its spending steady compared with the current budget.
What the agency calls the “all-in” water rate – which is what it charges customers like the city of San Diego – will rise by 3.6% for treated water and 3.3% for untreated water beginning in January.
The San Diego County Water Authority said Thursday it has adopted a $1.7 billion budget for the next two fiscal years and will keep its spending steady compared with the current budget.
What the agency calls the “all-in” water rate — which is what it charges customers like the city of San Diego — will rise by 3.6% for treated water and 3.3% for untreated water in calendar year 2022.
The San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors today adopted a $1.7 billion budget for fiscal years 2022 and 2023 – a 0% change from the current two-year budget – and approved water rates and charges for 2022, following a public hearing.
The all-in rate, which is a blend of fixed and variable rates, will rise by 3.6% for treated water and 3.3% for untreated water in calendar year 2022, due to more rate increases by the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, continued payments for past investments in supply reliability, and inflationary pressures on energy, chemicals, and construction materials. Actual water bills will vary based on customers’ water use, along with factors unique to their local retail water agencies.
“I’m proud of this budget and rates package in an era of unprecedented challenges,” said Water Authority Board Chair Gary Croucher. “We have contained costs while benefitting from strategic investments in water supply reliability that protect the region’s $253 billion economy and 3.3 million residents from statewide drought conditions. This achievement is only possible due to collaboration with our member agencies, strategic guidance from the Board, and the dedication of agency staff.”
More than 90% of the two-year budget is for buying and treating water or building and financing infrastructure. Seven percent of the budget for Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023 funds the Water Authority’s operating departments. The budget increase for those departments is 2%, or $1.9 million, compared to the current two-year budget.
The San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors May 27 approved the Water Authority’s 2020 Urban Water Management Plan highlighting a “water portfolio approach” that ensures reliable water supplies for the region through the 2045 planning horizon – even during multiple dry years. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority
Although the Water Authority’s budget spans two fiscal years, the agency sets rates annually to manage changing conditions more effectively. The Water Authority developed its 2022 water rates in conjunction with an independent cost-of-service study to ensure rates and charges comply with state law, legal requirements, cost-of-service standards, and Board policies.
The San Diego region’s diversified water supply portfolio includes highly reliable, locally controlled and drought-proof supplies from the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority
The Water Authority also worked closely with its member agencies to keep the proposed rates and charges at the low end of earlier projections.
In 2022, the Water Authority will charge its 24 member agencies an all-in rate of $1,523 per acre-foot for untreated water, or $49 more per acre-foot than they currently pay. Charges would be $1,833 per acre-foot for treated water, or $64 more per acre-foot than in 2021. (Note: An acre-foot is about 325,900 gallons, enough to serve the annual needs of 2.5 typical four-person households in San Diego County.)
The Water Authority’s overall rate increase is driven by multiple factors, including rising costs from its wholesale water provider, MWD. MWD increased its rates, including the amount it charges to transport the Water Authority’s lowest cost regional supply – high-priority, independent supplies from the Colorado River. Overall, MWD’s rates and charges for the Water Authority in 2022 will increase 3.9%.
The San Diego County Water Authority said June 21, that the region is protected from drought impacts this summer, and through 2045, despite continued hot and dry conditions. Photo: San Vicente Reservoir/San Diego County Water Authority
The water rates for calendar year 2022 include strategic withdrawals from the Rate Stabilization Fund. To reduce 2022 rate increases by approximately $65 per acre-foot, the Water Authority plans to draw $25 million from the agency’s Rate Stabilization Fund. The fund was created in 1990 to help avoid rate spikes, especially those driven by reduced water sales. The rate proposal also includes strategic management of the Water Authority debt portfolio resulting in $130 million in net present value savings from several refundings.
The 2022 rates ensure debt-coverage ratios that maintain the Water Authority’s strong credit ratings and minimize the cost of borrowing money for construction projects, an approach that saves ratepayers money over the long run. The Water Authority has senior lien credit ratings of AAA from Standard & Poor’s, AA+ from Fitch ratings and Aa2 from Moody’s.
For more information about the Water Authority’s 2022 and 2023 budget, and 2022 rates, go to pages 58 and 69 in the June Board packet.
Sweetwater Authority Logo 2019