Water Affordability

We Want to Hear from You!

We encourage you to share your thoughts, experiences, and concerns related to water affordability. By participating in the survey, you are contributing to a meaningful conversation and are helping to shape policies and initiatives that can ensure equitable access to affordable water for all. The survey is anonymous and will help identify opportunities to better meet the needs of our customers.

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. 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.

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 has 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 is conducting research to better understand challenges and opportunities related to water affordability. They are also exploring how water conservation and efficiency strategies, among other strategies, can help  keep water and sewer bills affordable in vulnerable communities.

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