Rates & Fees

Hi-Desert Water District must set rates and fees to fund the operation and maintenance of the water and wastewater systems.  

Water Rates                                       Sewer Rates

The District provides potable water service to approximately 26,000 people through more than 11,000 connections and Wastewater Treatment service to over 4,000 sewer connections in the Town of Yucca Valley and a portion of the unincorporated area of San Bernardino County. The total service area is 57 square miles, and the water system includes 3 recharge ponds, 16 storage tanks, 12 active wells, and over 312 miles of water pipeline. The Wastewater Treatment and collection system includes a 1.6 million gallons per day treatment plant, sewer collection lines serving downtown Yucca Valley, and multiple sewer lift stations.

To calculate fair and equitable rates to ensure users pay their portion of the cost of the service, the District does a cost-of-service analysis.

Fees include rates for water service, fees for specific services like fire flow, new meters, late fees, sewer rates for service, property assessments, etc.

The rate-making process starts by determining the revenue requirements to fund the operations & maintenance, debt service, capital expenses, and financial reserves requirements.

• Operations & Maintenance: purchase water, water treatment, chemicals, electricity, compliance, pumping, transmission, storage, distribution, meter servicing, customer billing, and administration.
• Capital Investments: Pipeline replacement and facility upgrades.  
• Financial Reserves: cash and savings to cover emergency expenses or unplanned revenue shortfalls.
• Debt Service: payment of debt and loans.

The water rates consist of a fixed charge that includes a water service fee and a capital replacement program fee (based on meter size) and variable water rates (per hundred cubic feet [hcf] or 748 gallons of water delivered). 

View the latest Water and Wastewater Financial Plan and Rate Study.