Updated July 16, 2025 

TCWD Adopts New Budget to Strengthen Water and Sewer Infrastructure
The Trabuco Canyon Water District (TCWD) Board of Directors has adopted a $31 million budget for the 2025–2026 fiscal year, which began on July 1. This comprehensive spending plan reflects our continued commitment to delivering safe, reliable water, sewer, and recycled water services to our community.

Investing in Reliability and Long-Term Savings
Nearly half of the total budget—about $14.6 million—is associated with upgrading and rehabilitating essential infrastructure including approximately $11 million towards the capital improvement program (CIP) projects and $3.6 million in debt service and CIP contingency. These investments include improvements to our treatment plants, pipelines, and pump stations—some of which have been in continuous operation for over 60 years. These efforts are crucial to ensuring long-term system reliability and resilience.

In June, the Board awarded over $5.5 million in contracts for the first phase of the Dimension Water Treatment Plant Transmission Main Rehabilitation Project. This key initiative will restore access to one of TCWD’s most cost-effective and dependable sources of drinking water. By using state-of-the-art trenchless technology to replace aging pipelines, the project will minimize disruptions, shorten construction timelines, and reduce reliance on more expensive water purchased from neighboring agencies—saving money for ratepayers in the long run.

Strengthening Wastewater Systems and Recycling Capabilities
The new budget also includes major upgrades to our wastewater facilities. Among them: a $1.5 million rehabilitation of the Heritage Sewer Lift Station, one of two major pump stations that transport sewage to the Robinson Ranch Wastewater Treatment Plant. This follows the successful completion of improvements to the Golf Club Sewer Lift Station in late 2024.

In addition, $1.7 million in modernization projects at the Robinson Ranch Plant will help TCWD continue treating 100% of sewage collected east of Plano Trabuco Road for reuse as recycled water—an essential part of our mission to conserve drinking water supplies and support sustainable irrigation- and $560,000 in upgrades to the Recycled Water Pump Station will help ensure continued reliable service to District irrigation customers.

Other planned CIP expenditures ($950,000) will fund design and construction of critical drinking water treatment and distribution system improvements in the canyon areas.

Thoughtful Rate Adjustments to Meet Rising Costs
To fund ongoing operations and capital improvements, approximately 75% of TCWD’s revenue comes from service rates and charges. Like many essential services, our costs are increasing due to factors such as higher wholesale water prices, energy and chemical expenses, construction costs, workforce needs, and compliance with evolving state regulations.

To help ease the impact on customers, the Board of Directors approved a measured adjustment to water rates for the new budget year, effective July 1, 2025. A portion of the rate increase has been deferred until January 1, 2026, so customers can benefit from reduced water charges during the high-usage summer and fall months.

For a single-family account with a 5/8-inch water meter using 14 billing units (single family 12-month average), the approved water rate adjustment, including pass-through charges from wholesale water suppliers, represents an increase of $27.53 on the monthly bill effective July 1, 2025, and a projected increase of $12.41 effective January 1, 2026.

For all current TCWD rates and charges, please visit TCWD.ca.gov/your-water/district-rates-charges.

June 25, 2024 Update

WHEN WILL HOMEOWNERS SEE THE NEW RATES ON THEIR BILLS?
The new rates and charges will appear on the August 2024 monthly bill, for water and sewer service provided in the month of July 2024. 

WHY ARE WATER RATES AND CHARGES BEGINNING JULY 1, 2024 LOWER THAN ORIGINALLY AUTHORIZED IN 2023?
When TCWD’s current five-year schedule of water rates was approved in June 2023, the Board of Directors committed to annual reviews to compare actual financial conditions against rate study assumptions to evaluate if rates could be adjusted lower than originally authorized.

Although construction and imported water costs continue to outpace inflation estimates, the Board conducted the first such review in May and identified other areas of savings that can be passed on to our TCWD customers. As a result of the annual analysis, the Board approved a reduction in water rates to be applied to bills issued after August 1, 2024. The approved reduction will average approximately 5% for TCWD customers. To view all rates and charges effective July 1, 2024, please visit www.tcwd.ca.gov/your-water/district-rates-charges

WHAT ARE PASS-THROUGH RATES AND CHARGES?
The costs paid by TCWD to its largest wholesale water supplier, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD), increased on January 1, 2024. MWD has sole control over these cost increases. TCWD is legally authorized to pass through the actual wholesale increases when they are imposed. For 2024, the District deferred passing through these costs until the August water bills. MWD is scheduled to increase wholesale water rates again on January 1, 2025. The pass through of that increase will appear on water bills received in February 2025. To view all rates and charges effective July 1, 2024, please visit www.tcwd.ca.gov/your-water/district-rates-charges

WHAT ARE MONTHLY FIXED CHARGES AND WHY DO THEY VARY BY WATER METER SIZE?
Fixed “meter” charges recover water system costs that are incurred regardless of how much water is used. These “fixed costs” include operations, maintenance, and infrastructure costs (often in the form of debt payments) that do not change based on the amount of water each customer uses. The largest component of the fixed charge is based on meter capacity – in other words the flow potential of the meter and the service line to the property. Larger meters with greater flow capacity generate a greater demand on TCWD’s water system of pipes, pumps, valves, reservoirs, and treatment plants and each customer pays their fair share of these system-wide fixed costs according to meter (and service line) size.    

CAN I REQUEST THAT MY RESIDENTIAL WATER METER BE REPLACED WITH A SMALLER SIZE?
Yes, TCWD has initiated a Meter Downsizing Program to handle requests from residential customers who wish to evaluate whether their property can be adequately supplied by a water meter with a smaller flow capacity.  This opportunity to decrease the monthly fixed charge could prove beneficial in certain cases where residential customers have significantly greater flow capacity than is currently needed for their property. Typically, these are properties with low water demand served by 1.5-inch and 2-inch meters.  Because TCWD did not size a property’s original water meter, the property owner is required to complete a worksheet which estimates the water demand of the property and recommends a minimum meter size for District review and approval. 

Please note that if the home is equipped with a fire sprinkler system, all requests for meter downsizing must be referred to the Orange County Fire Authority for evaluation. Please visit TCWD website for additional information and application forms at www.tcwd.ca.gov/district-services/customer-service/meter-downsizing-program.

Trabuco Canyon Water District sets rates and charges in an open, public process with multiple opportunities for customer input. Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions TCWD has received from the community regarding rates and charges, including the recent proposal to collect existing sewer charges on the property tax roll instead of on a monthly bill. 

WAS THE PROPOSAL TO COLLECT SEWER CHARGES ON THE PROPERTY TAX ROLL APPROVED?
No. At the public hearing on July 20, 2023, the TCWD Board of Directors voted unanimously to keep the existing sewer charges on the monthly water and sewer bill.  No TCWD charges will appear on our customers’ property tax bills. 

IS THERE A NEW WASTEWATER "DISPOSAL" TAX IN ADDITION TO THE NEW WATER AND SEWER RATES?
No. The District never proposed a new tax. The District did consider billing the existing sewer charges on the tax roll instead of on a monthly bill but voted to keep the sewer charges on the monthly bill at the public hearing on July 20, 2023. 

IS TCWD A PRIVATE ENTITY, AND DOES IT MAKE A PROFIT?
TCWD is a not-for-profit public utility, formed and operating under County Water District Law, California Water Code Section 30000 and statutes that follow that section. TCWD is prohibited by law from charging more than the cost to provide service to customers. 

CAN THE RATE INCREASES STILL BE PROTESTED?
The new schedule of rates and charges was approved by the Board of Directors following the close of the “Public Hearing on Proposed New Water, Wastewater, and Recycled Water Rates” on June 29, 2023. Protests were valid until the close of that public hearing; therefore, the new rates and charges can no longer be protested.

However, the motion to approve the rates included an annual review process to determine if there is the potential in future years to implement lower rates than originally approved if, for example, current and anticipated cost drivers have stabilized. These reviews will be conducted at regular Board meetings, where the community can participate. 

WHAT WILL THE ADDITIONAL REVENUE RAISED BY THE NEW WATER, SEWER, AND RECYCLED WATER RATES BE USED FOR?
As described in the TCWD 2023 Cost-of-Service Study (available at www.tcwd.ca.gov), the additional revenue will help fund increases in operating expenses, facility and infrastructure improvements, and prudent financial reserves, for each of the District’s utility enterprises: water, sewer, and recycled water. The increases in expenses in many key expense categories, including electricity, chemicals, fuel, and construction, have significantly outpaced the forecasts behind the last adjustment to the schedule of rates and charges in December 2020. In addition to keeping pace with cost increases, the new rates will also partially fund $24 million in critical infrastructure improvement projects over the next five years to maintain the long-term operational reliability of the water, sewer, and recycled water systems and avoid more costly unplanned rehabilitation. The list of improvement projects was prioritized based on a comprehensive condition assessment of over 40 District facilities and 1,600 assets conducted by outside engineering experts. 

WHAT IS TCWD DOING TO CONTROL COSTS?
When sufficient rain raises the water table below Trabuco Creek, like this past winter and spring, the District can meet half of its water supply needs on average by pumping groundwater from the Trabuco Creek Wells Facility in lieu of purchasing expensive imported water. TCWD is also realizing labor cost savings with the implementation of its “smart water meter” program whereby water consumption data is automatically collected to generate monthly bills. Since 2020, TCWD has been awarded nearly $1 million in state and federal grants to offset projects such as the smart meter program, urban runoff recovery pump station improvements, and the purchase of a mobile emergency generator.  To lower procurement costs for expensive water and sewage treatment chemicals, the District participates in a regional purchasing consortium with several other water districts to access bulk pricing. The District is also pursuing the sale of surplus real property to offset the cost of its infrastructure improvements. 

HAS TCWD LOOKED INTO SOLAR POWER GENERATION?
The District owns and operates many facilities to provide water, wastewater, and recycled water services which require significant energy demands. Periodically, the District evaluates its overall energy demands for opportunities to reduce the costs associated with pumping and facility operation, and this includes the potential for onsite solar power generation. Recently, the District evaluated the costs for implementing this type of solution, and unfortunately, it did not make financial sense at the time. The District will continue to evaluate all available power solutions for the efficient delivery of its services. 

HOW DOES THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ COMPENSATION COMPARE TO OTHER DISTRICTS?
TCWD Directors’ “per diem” meeting compensation has been $125 per meeting since 1991 (when it was increased from $120). The current average of nine other water districts in Orange County is $279 per meeting. California law allows a maximum of ten (10) days for which a Director may receive compensation in any calendar month.

WHERE CAN I LEARN MORE?
Visit www.tcwd.ca.gov for more information.