San Diego approves new water pricing structure, raising bills for average-use households

The San Diego City Council voted 6-2 on Oct. 27 to replace tiered water pricing with a uniform rate beginning Jan. 1, 2027, a change expected to raise bills for low- and average-use single-family households while lowering costs for high-use customers.

Councilmembers Kent Lee and Henry Foster III voted against the measure.

Under the existing system, single-family customers pay higher rates per unit of water as their consumption increases. The new structure will establish a uniform usage rate of $11.09 per 100 cubic feet of water, equivalent to about 748 gallons, for all customer classes, according to San Diego Public Utilities.

Customers will also pay a fixed monthly service charge based on meter size, according to the city’s Public Utilities Department.

Compared with rates previously approved for January 2027, an average-use single-family household would pay an estimated $7.82 more per month, or 5.9%, under the new structure, according to city projections.

A low-use household would pay $5.62 more per month, a 7.1% increase, while a high-use household would pay $19.52 less, a 5.9% decrease.

Multifamily properties are also projected to see lower water bills.

A property with about 10 units would see its average monthly water bill decrease by $15.17, or 2.2%, while a property with about 250 units or more would save $353.52, or 2.6%, according to the Public Utilities Department.

The restructuring follows a separate water rate increase of up to 14.5% for January 2027, which the council authorized in October 2025.

The latest change does not alter the city’s overall revenue requirement previously approved for 2027. Instead, it redistributes water costs among customer classes.

The pricing overhaul stems from Patz v. City of San Diego, a class-action lawsuit filed in 2015 challenging the city’s tiered water charges.

A trial court found that San Diego had not sufficiently demonstrated that its tiered rates reflected the proportional cost of providing water service, as required by California’s Proposition 218.

The California Court of Appeal upheld that finding in July 2025, prompting the city to revise its rate structure to comply with the ruling.