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Balancing and Memorandum Account Recovery Procedures (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012	Jan. 03, 2012
Balancing and Memorandum Account Recovery Procedures [Abstract]
Balancing Account, Net	$ 5,501		$ 6,314
Recovery amount requested in the general rate case				2,600
Memorandum Account, Net	1,243		1,486
Amount of net over-collection requested to be refunded to customers				700
Balancing and Memorandum Account, Net	4,258
Balancing and Memorandum Accounts, Revenue and Regulatory Assets	1,008	0
Memorandum Account, Recovery	$ 878
Threshold as a percentage of authorized revenue for balancing account or memorandum account review	2.00%

X

- Definition

This represents the under-collection or over-collection associated with expense changes and the revenue authorized by the CPUC to offset those expense changes. Pursuant to Section 792.5 of the California Public Utilities Code, a balancing account must be maintained for expense items for which revenue offsets have been authorized. Since the amounts in the balancing accounts must be approved by the CPUC before they can be incorporated into rates, the Company does not recognize balancing accounts in its revenue until CPUC approval occurs. It is typical for the CPUC to incorporate any over-collected and/or under-collected balances in balancing accounts into customer rates at the time rate decisions are made as part of the Company’s general rate case proceedings by assessing temporary surcredits and/or surcharges.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	sjw_BalancingAccountNet
Namespace Prefix:	sjw_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

Amount of recovery requested in a regulatory rate case.

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No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	sjw_BalancingAccountRecoveryRequest
Namespace Prefix:	sjw_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

Balancing and Memorandum Account, Net

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No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	sjw_BalancingAndMemorandumAccountNet
Namespace Prefix:	sjw_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Details

Name:	sjw_BalancingAndMemorandumAccountRecoveryProceduresAbstract
Namespace Prefix:	sjw_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Threshold balance of a balancing or memorandum account as a percentage of authorized revenue to trigger an account review.

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No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	sjw_BalancingAndMemorandumAccountReviewAuthorizedRevenueThresholdPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	sjw_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

Balancing and Memorandum Accounts, Revenue and Regulatory Assets

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No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	sjw_BalancingAndMemorandumAccountsRevenueAndRegulatoryAssets
Namespace Prefix:	sjw_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

This represents the memorandum accounts that track under-collection or over-collection for approved activities as directed by the CPUC. Rate recovery for these memorandum accounts is generally allowed in the next general rate cases.

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No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	sjw_MemorandumAccountNet
Namespace Prefix:	sjw_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

Memorandum Account, Recovery

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No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	sjw_MemorandumAccountRecovery
Namespace Prefix:	sjw_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

A request to the regulatory authority for authorization to refund over-collected amounts.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	sjw_MemorandumAccountRecoveryRequest
Namespace Prefix:	sjw_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant