SAN DIEGo -- The city of San Diego should repair aging water infrastructure and guard against inappropriate application of funds from rate increases, the county grand jury recommended in a report released Wednesday.

The grand jury's 10-page report, titled "Water for the City of San Diego Revisited," also chastised the city for continuing to rely on imported water and largely ignoring means to reduce reliance on outside sources.

"The city appears to lack the vision to take actions to protect citizens from potential water shortages and the rising cost of water," the report states.

A spokesman for Mayor Jerry Sanders deferred comment to Water Department Director Jim Barrett, who told 10News, "I think the mayor's focus is to improve the infrastructure, get pipes, pumps, plants back to capacity, reduce breaks and reduce liability to the city."

In preparation for the report, the grand jury reviewed recommendations contained in a similar study produced by the 1998-1999 grand jury.

According to the current report, many, if not all of the recommendations, including desalinization and water reclamation that were proposed in the earlier document were ignored.

"It is imperative that the city of San Diego pursue other water sources, including reclaimed wastewater, as part of a plan to improve reliability and cost stability of the city water supply," the report states.

The grand jury found that the city "seems to be satisfied" purchasing water from the San Diego County Water Authority.

"As water becomes scarcer, citizens of San Diego will pay a price for the inaction of the city," the panel warns in its report.

The grand jury also found that instead of dealing with the Environmental Protection Agency's goal to have the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant upgraded to a secondary treatment level, the city may ask for a five-year extension to the current waiver that expires Dec. 31.

If that waiver extension to comply with the Clean Water Act is denied, the city has no plan or the funds to cover the more than $1 billion it would cost to comply with the Clean Water Act, according to the grand jury.

In February, the city agreed to increase water and sewer rates over the next four years to begin to address a backlog of infrastructure upgrades. As a result, the average ratepayer will shell out about 30 percent more for water and wastewater on a monthly basis by 2011, according to the grand jury report.