An Assessment of Water Affordability & Conservation Potential in Long Beach California

AWE’s report, An Assessment of Water Affordability and Conservation Potential in Long Beach, California, evaluates water affordability in Long Beach and the extent to which water efficiency and conservation can help families, particularly disadvantaged families, lower their water and sewer bills. This is the second installment of AWE’s water affordability assessments, following 2020’s analysis of affordability in Detroit.

Water affordability is an incredibly important issue and AWE's affordability assessments help address socioeconomic inequities by identifying the extent and scope of water affordability challenges as well as tangible steps that water utilities and consumers can take to reduce the financial burden of water and sewer bills.

The report demonstrates:

• Water conservation programs and incentives currently available to Long Beach customers can play a meaningful role in lowering the average water bills for single-family residential customers.
• There is an important role for water conservation to empower customers to lower water and sewer bills.

“The affordability of water is one of the most important issues facing the water sector right now,” Adel Hagekhalil, General Manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, said. “Climate change is creating the need for new investments in local supplies and greater water efficiency, and we must all work together and try to leverage other resources to keep these supplies as affordable as possible for all those we serve.”

To view the corresponding webinar summarizing the findings of this report, click here.