Water rates for San Juan Capistrano, California, residents and commercial customers will rise beginning in September, after the Santa Margarita Water District’s Board of Directors unanimously approved the raise Aug. 2, along with plans to begin a new water rate study.
Rates for potable and recycled water, as well as that for wastewater services, will increase up to $30 per month and will steadily increase over the next several years, according to an Aug. 3 press release announcing the district’s decision.
Residents can check their exact new rate by using a rate calculator on the water district’s website.
“The cost of doing nothing puts our community in a dangerous situation,” Board President Frank Ury said in the press release. “Infrastructure throughout the City is in desperate need of repair.”
Commercial customers who have a fire meter—which manages automatic sprinklers and other parts of water systems—will see around a 31 percent increase in monthly water and wastewater bills, according to the press release.
“This [residential and commercial] rate restructure is an important step to bring the San Juan Capistrano rate structure in line with costs,” water district Director Laura Freese said in the press release. “This allows us to continue to make improvements to critical infrastructure to ensure reliable and sustainable services.”
The rise in rates came after a state-mandated cost-of-service study—conducted by the district over the past nine months—found the city’s current rates do not adequately provide for operational costs and infrastructure investments.
The restructured rates, according to the press release, are now more in line with what residents and commercial businesses pay in neighboring communities.
The water district has invested over $7 million in improvements since 2021 to the city’s infrastructure, when it began servicing the city, and has plans to use another $40 million in the next five years.
The city’s utility staff was in charge of managing the city’s drinking, recycling, and wastewater services prior to 2021.
