At its January 7 meeting, the Contra Costa Water District will look to adopt its 2026 fees and charges.
This comes after the Board in 2025 approved water rates for 2025 and 2026. Following a comprehensive review of the 2026 revenue requirements, staff have determined that the approved rates will generate adequate funding for 2026. Accordingly, no further adjustments are required and the 2026 water rates previously approved by the Board will become effective February 1, 2026.
However, other fees and charges within CCWD’s Code of Regulations have been reviewed for alignment with the cost of providing services. The District says the adjustments to fees and charges are projected to increase revenues by nearly $400k annually.
Additional revisions proposed for 2026 by the water district:
Boat Rental Fees: Increase in boat rental fees of 20 percent per year for the next two years (2026 and 2027), which will better align with neighboring agencies’ recreation programs and fees. CCWD’s boat rental fees have not been adjusted since 2016 and are notably lower than neighboring agencies’ boat rental fees.
Annexation Fee: Increase the minimum charge from $800 to $1,500 in 2026 and to $2,000 in 2027. The proposed change establishes a more realistic base amount, helping applicants understand the total cost before beginning the annexation process. The minimum annexation charge has not been adjusted since 2007.
Engineering Services: Apply an inflationary increase of approximately 27 percent to the not to exceed charge collected for the Engineering Department to develop a “shotgun,” or conceptual, cost estimate for providing water service. The not to exceed charge for developing “shotgun” estimates has not been adjusted since 2018
Penalty for Late Payment: Increase the late payment penalty from 1.5 percent to 3.0 percent of the delinquent balance, which aligns with the current practices of neighboring agencies. Late payment penalties have not been adjusted since 1990 for untreated water customers and 2013 for treated water customers.
Adjustment of Bills: Expand the leak adjustment credit to cover 100 percent of the excess quantity billed for Lifeline Program customers, providing greater financial assistance to eligible low-income customers. Shorten the bill adjustment period for all customers from six months to four months to encourage timely leak repairs.
Encroachment Permit Fees: Increase permit fee by $25 for first year and renewals to keep up with cost of providing this service. Encroachment permit fees have not been adjusted since 2021.
Other Budget tidbits:
Operating Expenses:
FY26 operating expenses are projected to total $138.2 million, consistent with the working budget. However, compared to the CIP, the FY26 operating expenses are $7.0 million higher. Operating expenses include labor, purchased water, chemicals, energy, maintenance, and support costs. The FY26 budget is used as the baseline to forecast the operating expenses for future years of planning period. The escalation factors, consistent with the CIP, are presented in the following table. Future years’ operating expenses are anticipated to return to escalation more in line with historical averages.
Analysis of Reserves
In addition to water rate revenues, reserves will be utilized over the ten-year planning period to fund operating, capital, and debt service costs to partially buffer impacts to water rate revenues and address water affordability concerns. FY25 ended the year with $7.2 million in financial benefits which help to offset FY26’s operating expenses that are projected to be $7.0 million higher than the CIP. CCWD’s Reserve Policy requires a minimum of six months of operating reserves, which are managed to stay above this minimum target, in compliance with the policy, while working towards a planning target of twelve months of operating reserves. CCWD, in consultation with its financial advisor, has confirmed that achieving 12 months of operating reserves is a key financial metric to help CCWD maintain its recently upgraded credit rating and favorable interest rates for financing larger future capital projects, such as the Canal Replacement Program. The 12-month operating reserve target is reflected in the adopted FY25 – FY34 CIP.
The financial analysis concludes that the adopted 2026 water rates will provide sufficient funding to meet CCWD’s operating, capital, and debt service requirements. The adopted 2026 rates will become effective February 1, 2026
If You go:
Contra Costa Water District Board Meeting
January 7, 2026 at 6:30 PM
1331 Concord Ave. Concord, Board Room
Agenda – click here
