Adjusted rates and new charges to help to support financial reserves, needed infrastructure improvements and major capital projects could cause Carpinteria Valley water bills to go up starting July 1.

Increases — which could amount to 7.5% for fiscal year 2027, 7.5% for fiscal year 2028 and 6.5% for fiscal year 2029 — would kick in July 1 if approved by the Carpinteria Valley Water District board.

District General Manager Kelley Dyer said a customer’s actual bills may be higher or lower than the proposed adjustments, depending on water usage.

Water bills are based on the actual cost of providing a service, which varies by pipeline size, parcel type, and the amount of water used.

Customers will be able to calculate their specific costs here on the district website by Monday.

The district set a date of 5:30 p.m. June 10 at Carpinteria City Hall, 5775 Carpinteria Ave., to allow community members the chance to protest the increases under the Prop 218 process. If 50% + 1 of district customers protest the increase with a written notice, then the changes can’t go before the water district board for a vote. 

These changes come as the district is facing “increased pressures” such as drought conditions, climate change and rising costs, Dyer said. 

The water district and Carpinteria Sanitary District in 2016 began pursuing a $91 million recycled water project, known as the Carpinteria Advanced Purification Project (CAPP).

It will help the district deal with drought and decrease its reliance on outside water by replenishing the area’s groundwater basin with recycled water purified at a new site on sanitary district grounds.

It is funded by a $50 million loan with a 1.7% interest rate, and state and federal grants. Construction is set to begin this year, with completion expected in 2029, a district spokesperson confirmed.  

Other large projects include replacing the district’s well aquifer and the construction of a pipeline that will connect Carpinteria and the Casitas water systems.

Dyer said the rates are also changing to fund infrastructure improvements.

A lot of Carpinteria’s water system is “decades old” and the district is “taking steps now to limit future disruptions and upgrade key parts before they become bigger, more expensive problems,” she said. 

Those upgrades, per Dyer, include rehabilitating the district’s headquarters well, inspecting older pipelines and upgrading remote pressure monitoring systems, among others. 

Notices of the proposed changes will go out in the mail to Carpinteria Valley customers on April 20. 

Protests must be physically written and mailed or dropped off at the district office at 1301 Santa Ynez Ave. or presented at Carpinteria City Hall before the end of the June 10 public hearing. 

Protests must include the customer or property owner’s first and last name; their service address, account number or assessor’s parcel number; the signature of the customer or property owner; and a statement protesting the increase in rates and charges.