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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Regulatory Rate Filings) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified | Dec. 31, 2013 | Dec. 31, 2012 | Jan. 03, 2012 | Oct. 27, 2010 | Dec. 31, 2013 Cost of capital memorandum account [Member] | Dec. 31, 2012 Cost of capital memorandum account [Member] | Dec. 31, 2013 Water supply balancing accounts [Member] | Dec. 31, 2012 Water supply balancing accounts [Member] | Dec. 31, 2013 Income tax temporary differences [Member] | Dec. 31, 2012 Income tax temporary differences [Member] | Dec. 31, 2013 Postretirement pensions and other medical benefits [Member] | Dec. 31, 2012 Postretirement pensions and other medical benefits [Member] | Dec. 31, 2013 Pension balancing account [Member] | Dec. 31, 2012 Pension balancing account [Member] | Dec. 31, 2013 Water rate assistance program balancing account [Member] | Dec. 31, 2012 Water rate assistance program balancing account [Member] | Dec. 31, 2013 Other [Member] | Dec. 31, 2012 Other [Member] | Oct. 03, 2013 SJWTX,Inc. dba Canyon Lake Water Supply Corporation [Member]
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Regulatory Assets and Liabilities [Abstract] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Regulatory assets | $ 88,218 | $ 134,377 |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ 8,220 | $ 8,146 | $ 62,949 | $ 113,633 | $ 9,734 | $ 6,671 | $ 2,590 | $ 776 | $ 4,725 | $ 5,151 |
Regulatory liabilities | 4,675 | 3,889 |  |  | 2,297 | 2,295 | 2,378 | 1,594 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Net Regulatory Assets | 83,543 | 130,488 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Requested rate increase for 2013 |  |  | 47,400 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Requested rate increase for 2013 as percentage of total revenue at time of request |  |  | 21.51% |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Requested rate increase for 2014 |  |  | 13,000 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Requested rate increase for 2014 as percentage of total revenue at time of request |  |  | 4.87% |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Requested rate increase for 2015 |  |  | 34,800 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Requested rate increase for 2015 as percentage of total revenue at time of request |  |  | 12.59% |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Regulatory Rate Filings, Requested Recovery of Under-Collected Balance Accounts |  |  | 2,599 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Amount of net over-collection requested to be refunded to customers |  |  | $ 650 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Immediate increase requested, percentage |  |  |  | 38.00% |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Total increase requested, percentage |  |  |  | 71.00% |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 23.10%

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- Definition The net amount of all regulatory assets less all regulatory liabilities as of the end of the period. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 980 -SubTopic 340 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6499975&loc=d3e44250-110382 + Details
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