What are you paying for in your water bill?
Water is one of the few things none of us can live without. Yet across the Morongo Basin, water bills vary, with some rising sharply while others remain relatively stable. Why can three neighboring public water districts charge such different rates when they’re providing essentially the same essential service? Reporter Hilary Sloane digs in…
You are not simply paying for water. You are paying for the system that delivers safe, reliable drinking water every time you turn on the tap.
That includes wells, pumps, storage tanks, and hundreds of miles of pipeline, along with employees, electricity, treatment, water-quality testing, regulatory compliance, emergency repairs, and the replacement of aging infrastructure.
But the monthly water bill is only part of the financial picture. Districts also receive revenue from property taxes, connection and development fees, assessments, interest, grants, and other sources. Some of that revenue may be restricted to specific purposes.
Hi-Desert Water District
According to the Hi-Desert Water District website, the district provides drinking water to approximately 26,000 people through more than 11,000 connections across 57 square miles. Its system includes 12 active wells, 16 storage tanks, three recharge ponds, and more than 312 miles of pipeline.
Hi-Desert relies on local groundwater, supplemented by imported water purchased from the Mojave Water Agency.
The 2024 rate study projected that Hi-Desert would spend between $1.7 million and $2.55 million annually replacing aging infrastructure. Some of that money would come from fees paid by new development, with the rest from water rates.
For fiscal year 2024–25, Hi-Desert projected about $14.3 million in water-system costs. Property taxes and other revenue helped cover some of those costs, leaving about $10.7 million to be collected through water rates.
The study recommended annual increases of 8% in water-rate revenue over the five-year period.
Hi-Desert customers pay a fixed monthly charge plus a usage-based charge. Residential customers are billed in three tiers, with the per-unit price increasing as water use rises.
Joshua Basin Water District
Joshua Basin Water District serves more than 5,600 connections across 96 square miles. Its system includes approximately 300 miles of pipeline, five groundwater wells, 17 reservoir tanks and 12 booster stations.
The 2023 rate study identified more than $2.5 million a year for replacing and upgrading wells, tanks, meters, pipelines and other infrastructure.
Joshua Basin pumps groundwater for its customers and purchases imported water from the Mojave Water Agency to recharge the groundwater basin.
Water rates are the district’s primary source of revenue, although it also receives money from property taxes, fees, interest and other sources.
Customers pay a fixed monthly charge plus a charge based on how much water they use. Residential customers are billed in four tiers, with the price per unit increasing as water use rises.
Twentynine Palms Water District
According to its 2025 rate study, Twentynine Palms Water District serves more than 7,600 metered connections across approximately 87 square miles. Its system includes 10 groundwater production wells, one groundwater treatment facility, approximately 360 miles of pipeline, multiple booster stations, and about 17 million gallons of water storage capacity.
General Manager Matt Shragge put that storage capacity into practical terms when I spoke with him.
“We have 17 million gallons of storage at all times,” Shragge said. “We try to keep them full all the time. We never know if there’s a fire or a water main break.”
Twentynine Palms relies entirely on local groundwater and does not purchase imported water.
Over many years, Twentynine Palms has invested in replacing aging pipelines, sometimes using its own crews rather than outside contractors. Shragge, who began working on the district’s pipeline crew in 1998, said some of the pipe installed during those years is now approaching 30 years old.
According to the 2025 rate study, Twentynine Palms plans approximately $13 million in capital improvements over five years, including major well and reservoir work. The study expects to fund those projects through water rates and existing reserves rather than through new grants or debt.
The district also receives revenue from property taxes and other sources, but customer water charges account for the vast majority of its revenue. The rate study found that existing water rates accounted for more than 80% of the district’s total revenue.
The financial plan proposed annual increases in water-rate revenue of 7% through fiscal year 2029–30.
Shragge described the district’s goal.
“I’m here to put water in the pipes, make sure everybody has water at a really high quality at a very low rate, the lowest rate that we can make it,” he said.
Twentynine Palms customers pay a fixed monthly charge plus a charge based on the amount of water they use.
Comparison
The differences become clearer when the three districts are placed side by side.
Joshua Basin has fewer customers supporting a large water system. Hi-Desert and Joshua Basin both purchase imported water, although for different purposes, while Twentynine Palms relies on local groundwater.
The districts also differ in how much they depend on customer water bills to pay their costs.
All three charge a fixed monthly amount plus a charge for water used. Hi-Desert uses three residential tiers, Joshua Basin uses four, while Twentynine Palms charges the same rate per unit regardless of how much water is used.
A lower water bill doesn’t necessarily mean the water costs less to provide. It can reflect how many customers share costs, the water source, the infrastructure that must be maintained, and other sources of district revenue.
A lower water bill doesn’t necessarily mean the water costs less to provide. It can reflect how many customers share costs, the water source, the infrastructure that must be maintained, and other sources of district revenue.
For customers, all of those differences eventually show up in one familiar place: the monthly water bill.
