The California drought has impacted residents throughout the state – from wildfires to water conservation efforts.
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But the effects are now being felt on San Franciscans' wallets.
With the drought waging onwards and more people conserving water, the San Francisco Water Department has been steadily losing money, according to reporting by the San Francisco Chronicle.
To solve the problem, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission has announced that water and wastewater rates will increase by 5% for retail customers next Friday, according to the paper.
"We're not making any profit off of this," Julie Ortiz, water conservation manager for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, told the paper. "It's just to recover our cost."
The city is likely to lose millions of dollars in revenue for this fiscal year due to people cutting back on their water use, said the paper.
The increase in rates are likely to collectively rack up nearly $7 million over the next few months, said the paper.
The increased rates will help keep the city's "water distribution system," running smoothly, said the paper.
And San Francisco is not the only one facing this issue – Alameda County recently raised their rates as well.
But it’s possible to avoid having to shell out more money for the water bill.
Those looking to avoid higher bills can keep cutting back on water use, and the utility has vowed to continue helping those trying to do so with its inspectors.
The inspectors are part of the utility's longstanding program that helps customers better conserve water, and can lead to 10% to 15% better efficiency, according to the paper.
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