more unique characteristics such as the presence of a pool, livestock or specialized industrial equipment. Water is sold to customers under a four-tier structure based upon their monthly water budget, which varies for landscape use relative to weather patterns. Customers using water within budget purchase water in the Low Volume and Base Rate tiers resulting in lower water bills. Customers using more than their budget purchase water in the Inefficient and Wasteful Tiers, resulting in higher water bills and a strong pricing signal to curb excessive use. The higher rates for over budget use incorporate the additional cost to IRWD of acquiring water supplies to meet over-budget demand, as well as the additional cost of demand management measures in a shortage. IRWD’s 2026-2027 domestic residential commodity rates for each of the four tiers are shown in Table 4-1 . Table 4-1: Commodity Rates for Residential Customers
Customer Tier
Percent of Budget
Rate Per CCF
Low Volume
0 – 40%
$2.18 $2.92 $8.03
Base Rate Inefficient Wasteful
41 – 100% 101 – 140%
141% +
$19.32
Application of any or a combination of water budget adjustment strategies may place customers into the higher usage tiers, which acts as a reporting and enforcement mechanism by creating a strong financial incentive for customers to reduce demands by paying their proportional cost of receiving water service. Water budget adjustments can be established and refined based on customer response in such a way that specified uses are discouraged. a) Customer Water Budget Adjustments: An adjustment to the water budget entails refining the water budget formula. This can be done by adjusting a specific portion of the formula. For example, residential water budgets are made up of an indoor plus an outdoor budget component. It is possible to adjust the outdoor component downward to allow for less outdoor irrigation or to discourage it altogether depending on the need for demand reductions. Water budgets could also be set to levels that would eliminate all outdoor water use including irrigation, car washing, pool filing, agricultural use of non-recycled water etc. Under this scenario, the indoor component could be left the same or could be altered, as necessary. Table 4-2 shows the target potable water use reduction for each level of shortage, the minimum potable water budget that would be provided at each level and the steps necessary to meet the water shortage reduction target for each level.
WSCP - 36
IRWD – 2025 Water Shortage Contingency Plan
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