The nearly 31 million dollars collected from the surcharge will cover about half the estimated 64-and-a-half million dollars needed to manage the drought this year, according to EBMUD. The rest of drought expenses will be funded by reserves.
The surcharge is EBMUD's latest step to address the region's ongoing drought.
Last month, in an effort to curb water use, the agency's board of directors voted to mandate a 10 percent water-use reduction districtwide.
EBMUD Board President Doug Linney said in a news release after the board's Tuesday meeting that the utility was employing all of its resources to encourage conservation from its consumers, while also trying to discourage waste.
The eight percent charge will be applied to customers' flow charges -- or the volume of water used -- starting July 1st. For an average single-family home using 200 gallons of water per day, the surcharge will amount to approximately 10 cents per day -- or three dollars more per month, according to the water agency.