LETTER FROM THE BOARD OFFICERS & GENERAL MANAGER

Despite complex and challenging circumstances throughout Fiscal Year 2021, the Water Authority maintained focus on its highest goal: working with and for its member agencies to ensure continued delivery of reliable water supplies and continued efforts to maintain those supplies for the long-term.

With the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic rippling across the region and the nation, a new threat emerged during the year – drought conditions that eventually came to dominate the water world of the arid West. Epic dry conditions over the winter led to a rapid decline in water reliability for many agencies in California.

Generations of strong planning, policies and investments by the Water Authority’s Board of Directors have put San Diego County in the strong position of having drought-resilient supplies, as shown in the 2020 Urban Water Management Plan that we completed during the year. Those efforts have been coupled with strong commitments by residents, farmers, and businesses to support reliability investments financially while also reducing their water use.

As supply reliability became the focus of the agency’s work during the year, we also moved ahead on several other fronts, including a major water rate case victory that provided more than $44 million in refunds to the Water Authority’s member agencies. In addition, the Water Authority installed new fish-friendly seawater intake pumps at the Carlsbad Desalination Plant, launched a major underground reservoir project in Mission Trails Regional Park, and completed a major rehabilitation of the historic First Aqueduct in North County.

Other achievements spanned the agency – including the approval of a budget that included a 0% increase as part of our concerted efforts to maintain water affordability across our region, the development of an important partnership with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and the development of the Permanent Special Agricultural Water Rate Program that supports our region’s vibrant farming industry.

In the end, 2021 was a year that proved more than ever that we are stronger together.