OVERVIEW

Water benefits every aspect of our lives. We drink it, we cook with it, and we grow our crops with it. In our ongoing efforts to secure water supplies for decades to come, the San Diego region has achieved great successes. Thanks to the exceptional work of our Board, staff, partners, and community, our regional water system continues to be healthy and resilient.

Managing water in a hot, dry climate like ours requires continual innovation, collaboration, conservation, and strategic investments. During Fiscal Year 2023, a wet winter gave us a reprieve from two decades of drought conditions on the Colorado River and bought us time for further collaboration on river management. It also highlighted how California’s reservoir management wasn’t ideally prepared for wild swings in weather. So, we successfully advocated for new legislation that would give the state more tools to deal with our all-or-nothing weather.

We also took several strategic actions to adapt to inflationary pressures and decreased water sales, in our never-ending quest to keep water rates as low as possible. With the help of a federal loan, we invested in environmental upgrades to the Claude "Bud" Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant, saving ratepayers tens of millions of dollars in the process.

Water affordability continues to be a critical issue in San Diego and throughout the state. We obtained grant funds to install free water-saving devices in underrepresented communities, and we helped secure federal financial aid for low-income water customers in the region to cover overdue residential water and wastewater bills.

This year, we were pleased to welcome one of the largest cohorts of new board members in more than a decade. And we gave a fond farewell to General Manager Sandra Kerl, whose hard work for the past 14 years was critical in securing San Diego County’s water supply. We also reset our relationship with the Metropolitan Water District, setting the stage for greater collaboration in the future.

Finally, the Water Authority completed one of our biggest maintenance operations in more than 75 years. The work was part of a proactive asset management program to maintain and rehabilitate pipelines that deliver water to millions of San Diegans. This transformational work was critical in ensuring the reliability of the region’s water delivery system. And we successfully communicated with communities that were affected by the capital construction projects to ensure awareness about neighborhood impacts and benefits.

Of course, none of the successes over the past year would have been possible without you. We were privileged to collaborate with dedicated community partners, businesses, and residents to secure the water upon which we all depend. As we step into 2024, we are confident that our colleagues – and all of you – are ready to handle whatever tomorrow might bring. Thank you for being on this journey with us.