Water Affordability

Providing affordable and equitable access to clean water is a primary objective of the City’s Water Resources Division. To meet this objective, the City partnered with the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) to further explore the topic of water affordability. The Alliance for Water Efficiency is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the efficient and sustainable use of water across North America. AWE conducted research to better understand challenges and opportunities related to water affordability. They also explored how water conservation and efficiency strategies, among other strategies, can help  keep water and sewer bills affordable in vulnerable communities.

read the study

We had a thorough presentation and discussion at the January 18, 2024 Water Commission meeting about the draft Water Affordability Study. You can watch the recording below, it’s about an hour and 15 minutes in length for this item. 

WATCH THE RECORDING

The September 18, 2024 Water Commission meeting included a discussion on the implementation of recommendations from the Study. You can watch the recording below, it’s about 50 minutes in length for this item. 

Watch the recording

Why Conduct a Water Affordability & Conservation Study?

Water affordability, conservation, and equitable access were identified as important community values in the Water Vision Santa Barbara effort conducted in 2020 (below). Affordability is a growing concern as water and sewer rates rise to account for increasing costs due to aging infrastructure, extreme weather events, climate change, regulations, and inflation, to name a few.

For more information, please contact Gabriele Cook at (805) 897-2525 or GCook@SantaBarbaraCA.gov.