Rate Increase Amount:

Sunnyslope Water District board of directors adopted new water rates which go into effect immediatly.  The approved rate model includes an increase of 15% in August 2024, followed by subsequent increases of up to 8% each July through 2029. For most customers, this means an additional $9 to $14 per month for an average water portion of the bill costing $70 to $100. [Note that cost estimate does not include the sewer and street sweeping portions of the bill which currenlty are not changing]

Why a Rate Adjustment is Needed:

Inflation

As everyone has personally experience in the last several years, inflation has substantially increased the costs of everything, and Sunnyslope is not immune to these rising costs of parts & materials, equipment, treatment chemicals, energy, labor, and everything else that goes into providing high quality water and wastewater service. Rates were last adjusted in Jan 2019 as Sunnyslope held rates static throughout the Covid 19 pandemic. Now inflation is forcing a rate adjustment to balance Sunnyslope's long-term financial outlook.

reduce Water Hardness

Sunnyslope has been able to substantially reduce the average hardness of the water we supply customers by sourcing much of our water from the Lessalt and West Hills Water Treatment Plants. These plants treat surface water imported from San Luis Reservoir which has much lower hardness and salinity than the local groundwater which was historically the primary water source for Sunnyslope. The reduced hardness increases the lifespan of appliances and eliminates the need for costly water softeners whose salt discharges negatively impact the wastewater. However, the treated surface water is more expensive than groundwater, especially with the recent significant increases in chemical costs.

water reliability and climate change

The last decade in California has seen some of the worst droughts and wettest years in recorded history. This has forced water agencies to re-evaluate previous assumptions about the dependability of water supplies and to create projects to save water in wet years for future droughts. Sunnyslope is participating with San Benito County Water District on several water storage projects to ensure we have sufficient water supplies for our current customers, regardless of droughts. The rate increase ONLY pays for projects to improve water reliability for current customers and does NOT pay for expanding water supplies to accomodate urban growth.

Additional Details:

For additional details about the proposed rate increase, please see the link below.