NEWS WORTH NOTING: New report on considerations for local groundwater markets; DWR releases PSP for Prop 1 water desalination grants; Public opinion poll shows high level of confidence in San Diego’s water supply reliability.
District 5 Harris Ct., Bldg G, Monterey, CA 93940 Public Opinion Poll Shows High Level of Confidence in San Diego’s Water Supply Reliability New research also reveals consistent support for using water efficiently, supply diversification and value of water service From the San Diego County Water Authority: In the wake of one of the most significant droughts in California’s history, public confidence in the reliability of the San Diego region’s water supply has grown to extraordinarily high levels, according to the San Diego County Water Authority’s most recent public opinion poll.
An overwhelming majority (83 percent) of respondents viewed the region’s water supply as somewhat or very reliable, outpacing results in the 2015 (65 percent) and 2014 (70 percent) surveys.
Residents continued to show overwhelming support (79 percent) for the Water Authority’s supply diversification strategy, which includes Colorado River water transfers, water-use efficiency, local supply development efforts such as groundwater and recycling, and the addition of desalinated seawater in late 2015 from the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant.
An overwhelming majority of poll respondents – 92 percent – predicted they will use less or about the same amount of water in 2017 as they did the year before.
Nearly a quarter (24 percent) said they would not pay more for additional supplies, up from 16 percent in 2015.
More than four in 10 respondents (41 percent) moderately or strongly agreed that additional rate increases are necessary to support regional water supply reliability, a slight decrease from 2015 (44 percent), but still above 2014 levels (33 percent).
A majority of residents (56 percent) agreed that it costs more to provide a reliable water supply in San Diego County than in most other parts of the country.
Probe Research conducted the 2017 survey by a random telephone sample of 500 respondents (including 150 respondents who only use a mobile phone), and 501 online respondents chosen from a custom panel of San Diego County residents who have agreed to participate in online surveys.
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