Case Study: Coachella Valley Water District – Achieving Drought Savings

Submitted by CVWD

CVWD implemented BBRs in 2009. Therefore, when the drought emergency prompted Governor Brown to mandate water use reductions of 25% statewide and the SWRCB created targets for reduction, CVWD already had the infrastructure in place to use BBRs as a tool to achieve the mandated reduction. The SWRCB placed a mandatory conservation target of 36% on CVWD. On May 12, 2015, CVWD’s Board of Directors approved a drought penalty component for domestic water billing. Using the existing structure allowed CVWD to create a conservation goal that was fairer than an across-the-board approach and rewarded those users who were already 36% below their budgets.

CVWD asked customers to reduce their outdoor water use to 64% of their budgeted amount. Customers who did not do so would pay penalties that increased incrementally with the tiers. There were no penalties for customers who remain in Tier 1, which was designed to cover all indoor water use. Customers were asked to limit their Tier 2 water use to 36% below their water budget. Customers that achieve 36% savings (stay within the first 64%) do not incur a penalty. Customers using water in Tiers 3, 4 and 5 pay the standard rate for water used in each tier plus a penalty. The amount of the penalties for Tiers 3, 4, and 5 was increased on November 10, 2015. The penalty rates are listed in the table below.

Through October 2015, CVWD achieved the following savings under this approach.

However, it is important to note that even if CVWD customers were staying within their budgets, the District would be meeting the 36% mandate, as demonstrated below.

Penalties imposed by CVWD and other agencies are part of the rate structure table in Examples of Budget-Based Rates Tier Structures.