Service, Quality, Community
DO YOU KNOW...
where your MONEY goes?
We at the Big Bear Lake
Department of Water and Power,
DWP, are dedicated to
providing an essential service.
You may wonder where your
money goes once you pay
your bill. As a public agency,
we do not operate for profit.
We use our revenue to
provide high quality water
and reliable service. Here
is a breakdown to help
understand what you are
paying for.
What are fixed costs ?
What are variable costs ?
Costs that can change when water demand
changes. They include:
The largest piece of the pie includes costs that do not fluctuate throughout the year
and do not change if we pump 1 gallon or 600 million gallons.
Operations and maintenance. This includes the day-to-day functions of ensuring that the water conveyance system (wells, pumps, pipes, meters) is functioning
Electricity for wells and booster stations,
properly and providing you with great customer service.
Chemicals for water treatment, and
Debt service. The majority of the outstanding loan payments are from purchas-
Purchased water paid for by Rimforest
ing the water system from the Southern Water California Company in 1989. The
customers.
other loan payments include those for capital improvement projects: building and
repairing pipeline and constructing new wells.
Where does our drinking water come from?
Capital improvements. This consists of various improvement projects
to make sure the water infra-
Many people think we get our drinking water from Big Bear
Lake. In fact, all of our drinking water comes from groundwater aquifers. The DWP operates 62 wells and maintains
178 miles of pipeline, 15 separate pressure zones, and 12
booster stations, which use a lot of electricity.
structure (pipeline, wells, etc.)
41972 Garstin Dr.
P.O. Box 1929
is working properly. Projects
Big Bear Lake, CA 92315
with large price tags are typi-
909-866-5050
cally funded through grants
and low-interest loans.
www.bbldwp.com
BigBearWater
Service, Quality, Community
@BigBearWater
How Does Your Water Bill Compare?
Every water agency needs a certain amount of revenue in order to deliver water to
your property and ensure the conveyance system is functioning properly. The majority of your water bill is a service charge, which is the cost of providing high quality
water every time you turn on the tap.
Since we live in a resort community, our population can triple in size during
busy weekends. The DWP needs to make sure that water is available whenever it is needed. This means that even though you do not turn on your tap,
we still need to operate and maintain 178 miles of pipeline, drill new wells,
replace meters, etc.
That is why you see a
fixed charge, known as a
service charge, on your
water bill.
As a customer of the
DWP, you pay about $0.01 per
gallon. Did you know that you
could pay over $11.00 per gallon
Source: Association of California Water Agencies
when you buy bottled water?
Take a look at the chart below to see the average monthly bills in neighboring water
agencies.
Average Monthly Water Bills
$60.00
$61.60
$57.77
$48.52
$41.19
$37.71
$42.07
$40.30
$39.00
$30.60
Big Bear City Big Bear Lake City of Hesperia Cucamonga Desert Water Monte Vista Placer County
Running
South Tahoe Victorville
CSD
DWP
Valley Water
Agency Water District Water Agency Springs Water Utility District Water District
District
(near Tahoe)
District
Did you know?
The American Water Works Association
(AWWA) released a study in April 2012 investigating the costs of replacing the nation’s
water infrastructure. Because the majority of water infrastructure is below
ground, oftentimes it is out-of-sight-outof-mind. It is estimated that over the
next 25 years, the price tag for replacing
aging water infrastructure will be
$25 trillion.
Aging water mains are subject to more
frequent breaks and other failures that
can threaten public health and safety
(water quality and fire suppression). All
of us who pay for water service will
absorb the
cost to fix
and maintain failing
water infrastructure,
primarily
through
higher water bills.