Understanding Your Rates
Western is dedicated to keeping your water costs as low as possible, working tirelessly to keep our operations as cost-efficient as possible while ensuring supply reliability.
Here is a breakdown of the charges on your water bill and how each is calculated. For additional details, see the links below or contact our customer care team at 951.571.7104.
Total Water Charge
Water Reliability Charge
Metropolitan Water District Readiness-to-Serve Charge
Pumping Charge
System Charge
Total Water Charge
Your total water charge is the cost of actual water delivered to you during the billing period. The water is measured in hundred cubic feet (HCF)* by the water meter on your property.
*A hundred cubic feet is equal to 748 gallons.
How it is calculated?
This charge is based on the amount of water delivered through the meter multiplied by the water rate. The water rate varies based on “tiers” that encourage conservation.
Western’s water rate tiers
Western has affordable tiers for indoor and outdoor water use (Tiers 1 and 2). Tier 1 plus Tier 2 equals a customer’s water budget for the billing period. Staying in these two tiers is considered efficient water use. If a customer uses more than their efficient budget, the rate increases in each of Tiers 3 through 5, which are considered inefficient, wasteful and unsustainable water use. To learn more about water budgets, please click here.
Water Reliability Charge - Riverside Service Area Customers Only
The water reliability charge is used to invest in facilities that increase local water supplies, guard against imported-water shortages and ensure uninterrupted local access to water.
These facility investments – including the La Sierra Pipeline, the Sterling Pump Station, and the Arlington and Chino groundwater desalter projects – add to our local water supply and reduce reliance on imported water.
How it is calculated?
This charge is 42 cents per 748 gallons (1 HCF) that a customer uses.
MWD Readiness-to-Serve Charge - Riverside Service Area Water Customers Only
This charge is a direct pass-through charge from the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California, the water agency Western imports most of its water supply from.
This charge helps maintain MWD-managed storage basins such as Lake Skinner and Diamond Valley Lake, and ensures Western’s access to water in the event of an emergency, natural disaster or long-term drought.
How it is calculated?
This pass-through charge from MWD is based on your property’s meter size. While Western is the agency collecting the charge, Western does not keep any money from this charge.
Pumping Charge
The pumping charge is the price of the energy required to move water from its source to the Western storage reservoir that serves your area. Because these reservoirs are located on high ground, gravity takes over to bring the water down to individual properties.
How it is calculated?
This charge multiplies the amount of water a customer uses – that is, the number of HCF delivered – by the cost of pumping 1 HCF to the reservoir serving that customer’s property. Some service areas, or zones, require more energy to serve than others due to their location and elevation.
System Charge
The system charge pays for the cost to provide instant, anytime access to clean water. It covers Western’s fixed costs that are required to sustain access and keep the entire system running safely. These costs include water treatment, quality-control testing, environmental compliance, maintenance and repairs, administrative costs and more.
This charge is similar to the fixed charge on a Netflix bill. Each customer pays a fixed cost for access to content, regardless of how much or how little is utilized.
How it is calculated?
For residential customers, this fixed charge is about $35 to $60 per month based on the size of the meter on your property. The larger the meter, the more demand you can put on the system and therefore the higher your cost to access the system.
For more information or to get your questions answered, contact our customer care team at 951.571.7104.
Adopted Rates - Summaries by Service Area
Riverside Nonpotable Service Area Rate Summary
March East Service Area Rate Summary
Murrieta Service Area Rate Summary
Rainbow Service Area Rate Summary
IAWP Agricultural Service Area Rate Summary
Non IAWP Agricultural Service Area Rate Summary
Power Zones Map This shows the geographic boundaries for the Pumping Charge.
Cost of Service Studies
Riverside Service Area (Including March East and Rainbow Service Areas)
Murrieta Service Area
October 4, 2017 Public Hearing Materials
Riverside Potable Service Area Rate Notice
Riverside Nonpotable Service Area Rate Notice
March East Service Area Rate Notice
Murrieta Service Area Rate Notice
Rainbow Service Area Rate Notice
IAWP Agricultural Service Area Rate Notice
Non IAWP Agricultural Service Area Rate Notice
Western's Responses to Public Hearing Questions
Water Budget Rate Structure
The Water Budget Rates webpage has full details about the water budget rate structure.
Rates
Western is dedicated to the essential public service of collecting and treating wastewater (sewage), and doing so at the lowest possible cost. Our wastewater team and staff provide this vital service reliably every day of the year. While our agency continually strives for cost efficiency, we also need to keep pace with inflation and other cost increases, including, among others, the costs of complying with regulations governing the treatment and disposal of wastewater, repairing and replacing aging infrastructure, and year-over-year increases related to energy, chemicals, biosolids disposal, maintenance and labor costs. Annually, staff assesses whether current wastewater rates generate sufficient revenue to pay for anticipated costs, and then makes a recommendation to the Board of Directors regarding any needed rate adjustments.
Staff recommended two-year increases to the wastewater rates and the Board of Directors approved them after holding a Public Hearing on July 18, 2018. The increases will be applied to all wastewater service billed on or after Oct. 1, 2018 and Oct. 1, 2019.
Adopted Resolution 3029 Retail Wastewater Rates
| For more information about the rates for your service area, click on the links associated with the area where you receive service: | |
| La Sierra Area: Western customers served by the Western Riverside County Regional Water Authority treatment plant are located in the communities of Lake Hills, Victoria Grove, La Sierra and Home Gardens. For properties where Western does not provide water service, annual wastewater charges are collected on the County tax roll. Notice of Public Hearing to consider wastewater rate increase for La Sierra Area Cost of Service Report - La Sierra | |
| WWRF Area: Western customers served by the Western Water Recycling Facility are located east and west of the I-215 freeway in the communities of Mission Ranch, Boulder Springs, portions of Riverside, Perris and Cajalco/Woodcrest, and the Maarch Air Reserve Base. Notice of Public Hearing to consider wastewater rate increase for WWRF Area Cost of Service Report - WWRF | |
| Murrieta Area served by SRRRA: Customers served by the Santa Rosa Regional Resources Authority (SRRRA) treatment facility are located in Murrieta excluding the Madison Avenue corridor. Customers will not be affected as staff recommended no adjustments to the rates for these customers. Murrieta Area served by EMWD: Commercial customers served by the Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) treatment facility are located along the Madison Avenue corridor. Notice of Public Hearing to consider wastewater rate increase for Murrieta area served by EMWD Cost of Service Report - Murrieta | |
Treatment Facilities
Western operates two wastewater treatment plants, one in Corona called the Western Riverside County Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant and the other in Riverside known as the Western Water Recycling Facility.
The Corona plant is a joint powers authority and is governed by the Western Riverside County Regional Wastewater Authority (WRCRWA). The WRCRWA plant, a facility capable of providing clean recycled water for irrigation or for discharge into the watershed, was brought online in 1998. It’s designed to clean up to 14 million gallons of wastewater per day. Wastewater from Western, the City of Norco, Jurupa Community Services District, Corona Department of Water & Power and Home Gardens Sanitary District is collected through many miles of pipelines, pumped to the WRCRWA plant, processed and released into the Santa Ana River in a cleaner state than the existing river water.
The Riverside facility, located near the March Air Reserve Base, is a 3 million gallon a day processing plant for treating wastewater that was expanded in 2010-11 to produce clean, high-quality recycled water for irrigation use. A main customer for this unique water source is the Riverside National Cemetery, which irrigates more than 900 acres of grass and plants with Western recycled water.