Several months ago, when drought presentations were made, there was some discussion about the possibility that a drought surcharge would be activated if a mandatory drought stage was activated. The drought surcharge already exists within the Roseville Municipal Code and was approved during the last rate adjustment that was approved by the City Council almost two years ago.

When the city activated the Stage 2 Drought in late March, the decision was made to hold off on activating the drought surcharge – most specifically out of a deliberate effort to try to avoid the additional cost to our customers for as long as the water utility reasonably could.

Thankfully, the community has met the call to reduce water usage by 20 percent; however, the double-edged sword of lower revenue from reduced water use and the increased cost to providing a scarce resource has put our community owned water utility in a challenging financial position. Thus, as stewards of our community owned water utility, this action must be taken to ensure that we remain financially stable.

So effective June 15, the City of Roseville will be implementing a temporary rate increase on water use in the form of a 15 percent drought surcharge for customers that receive their water from the City of Roseville. If you are reducing your water use by 20 percent, your water utility bill should be similar as the same time last year. To provide some perspective, below is an example based on the average residential water usage for Roseville which is about 1800-1900 cubic feet:

Visit www.roseville.ca.us/drought for water saving tips, current water use restrictions and other drought resources.

WaterInsight is a free online way to track your water use and conserve water - www.roseville.waterinsight.com (for residential water customers only).

For questions about your City of Roseville utility bill, call 916-774-5300.