Stanislaus County resort lowers water rate. Customers still owe $468 per month
Diablo Grande residents in western Stanislaus County are paying $100 less each month for water service after enduring $600-a-month water bills since July of last year.
The Western Hills Water District agreed to basic terms of a new water-purchase agreement with Kern County Water Agency in May, which allowed the district to lower the rate for Diablo Grande customers beginning with the June billing cycle.
The base monthly rate dropped from $568 to $468. A district notice to residents said the rate is temporary until a study is completed and a more permanent rate is approved.
According to the notification, the district still has significant costs for maintenance and operation of the water system and needs to build up financial reserves.
The Kern Water Agency threatened a year ago to halt water transfers to Diablo Grande, south of Patterson, because of nonpayment of charges by Western Hills.
Effective in July 2025, the financially troubled district imposed a fourfold increase in the residential water rate, to $568 monthly, to generate cash for resuming payments to Kern. The base rate, plus a charge on water use, amounted to $600-a-month bills for many Diablo Grande homeowners.
Western Hills representatives engaged in months of negotiations with Kern toward a less costly water purchase agreement. With a May 31 deadline looming, the two entities reached an agreement in principle that will eliminate a $14 million Western Hills debt obligation.
Western Hills no longer will be required to buy 8,000 acre-feet each year; instead, smaller purchases will be based on water needs.
District board President Mark Kovich, who wrote the notice, said inflationary costs and delinquent customer accounts have an impact on district finances. The water rate could be reduced an additional $70 if all customers were current on water bills, the notice said.
“(Western Hills) remains committed to operating in a fiscally responsible manner while maintaining a safe and dependable water service for the community,” Kovich wrote.
Western Hills originally had an agreement for 8,000 acre-feet per year to supply water for a robust development plan including several golf courses, a hotel and convention center and 5,000 homes. Only about 600 homes were built at the golf resort before the nation’s economic calamity in 2008.
World International LLC bought the project out of bankruptcy in 2008 and eventually stopped subsidizing the water system and other infrastructure costs. The payments to Kern ceased in 2019.
Kovich wrote that the district continues with litigation against former developers.
