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Crosscurrents

Why are Bay Area water bills going up when water use is going down?

Todd Whitney
The San Pablo Reservoir is managed by the East Bay Municipal Utilities District.

Despite the recent rain and projections that El Niño is on its way, there’s little chance that the storms will end California’s drought. At least, Governor Brown’s not counting on it.

Last month, he issued an executive order saying that if the drought continues through January, then he’s extending the state’s mandatory 25 percent water cutbacks.

Those restrictions have had an unexpected consequence for some in the Bay Area. Though their water use has gone down, their bills have gone up. KALW’s water reporter Audrey Dilling sat down with Hana Baba to talk about why.

AUDREY DILLING: All the stuff that it takes to get water to your house – the staff, the maintenance, the treatment – it all costs money. And it costs relatively the same amount of money regardless of how much water you use.

Crosscurrents