Valley Center Municipal Water District customers have FREE access to the WaterSmart web and mobile customer portal. WaterSmart account holders can view their water use data online and have access to features like leak alerts and higher-than-normal use notifications. This service is part of our ongoing commitment to provide you with the best tools to manage your water use and bill. Please register today!
The phone number is (833) 277-8720 (please note, pay-by-phone number was updated in October 2022).
Mail the payment in envelope enclosed with water bill.
Our hours are Monday - Thursday 7:00am to 4:30pm, and Friday 7:30am to 4:00pm.
*Please note, payments made at the District Office (in-person) are limited to Cash, Check, or Money Order only.
We understand that the COVID-19 Pandemic has negatively impacted many of our customers and their ability to keep their water and wastewater charges current. Besides working directly with the District to establish a payment plan, there are other community resources available:
211 is a 24-hour phone referral service for people needing assistance with paying utility bills, food, health services, domestic violence assistance, shelter and many other needs. When you call, you get an actual human on the phone who will do a database search to help you find solutions. Often, water bill funding is quickly depleted in San Diego County, but 211 researchers can help find potential funding for other utilities to offset costs. Online: www.211.org.
San Diego County United Way fund: is intended to help with utility bills, rent and mortgage payments. It’s for low-wage workers who need support for a limited but undetermined length of time. Online: https://uwsd.org/covid19/
Modest Needs Foundation: is a grant program. It is for unusual or emergency situations, and if approved, Modest Needs would pay the bill in its entirety. You would not be expected to repay the grant. Online: www.modestneeds.org
Why can’t you just forgive my bill? We can’t, unfortunately. Prop. 218, voted into law by California voters in 1996, prohibits government agencies from allowing some customers to subsidize other customers. Doing so would be illegal for Valley Center MWD since we are a non-profit, government agency. While we can extend the time to collect, all outstanding charges will need to be ultimately collected by the District. As indicated above, please contact our Finance Department at 760-735-4500 about setting up an extended payment plan.
Schedule of Rates Meter Capacity Fees
The District is not a "company" but a unit of local government. As such, it does not make a "profit." Of our basic water rate only about 11% stays with the district. The rest goes to pay the wholesale cost of water to Metropolitan Water District and San Diego County Water Authority. In addition, we collect a monthly service charge to cover about half of our fixed costs we incur regardless of how much water you buy, such as reading the meters and keeping the reservoirs and pipelines ready for our customers.
Of the small amount we keep, we maintain over 300 miles of water mains and 42 reservoirs, as well as thousands of valves, appurtenances, solar renewal energy facilities and fire hydrants, spread over 100 square miles. Any money we have left over is used to replace and enhance our water facilities to help ensure quality water and service to our customers.