Lawrence city commissioners this week are set to raise water rates, and send one of two messages in the process.

Residents who regularly water their lawns will want to pay close attention because, depending on which message commissioners send, lush lawn owners may see summer water bills increase by more than 20 percent.

Commissioners at their Tuesday evening meeting will consider two proposals — one that charges all users the same per-gallon fee regardless of how much water they use, or a system similar to the current rate structure that provides a per-gallon discount to large volume users.

“Essentially, our rate structure is going to send one of two signals to people,” said City Commissioner David Dunfield. “It is either going to say that water is a resource we need to be careful with and it needs to be used in a thoughtful manner. Or it is going to say the opposite — that water is an unlimited resources and we should use it as freely as we want.”

Monthly bills

How the two rate proposals affect the pocketbooks of city residents depends on how much water they use. Here’s a look at three scenarios:

• Large user: For an irrigator who uses 50,000 gallons of water during a typical summer month, the difference is significant between the two plans. Under the uniform rate structure, which provides no discount to large users, the monthly bill would increase to $135.45 from $109.51, an increase of 23 percent. Under the declining rate structure, bills would increase to $117.09, an increase of 7 percent.
• Medium user: During the course of a year, city residents typically use 10,000 gallons of water per month. Their bills would increase to $28.65 from $26.71 today under the uniform rate structure. That’s an increase of 7 percent. They would see a larger increase under the declining rate structure. Those bills would rise to $29.69, an increase of 11 percent.
• Small user: Users of 1,000 gallons per month would see lower monthly bills under either system. With the uniform rate, their bills would decline to $4.62 from $6.55 per month, a decrease of 29 percent. With the declining rate structure, the bill would drop to $4.26, a decrease of 35 percent.

Under either proposal, the new rates would take effect Jan. 1.

Water rate review on tap (9-20-04)

Customers’ opinions

Dunfield said he favored the uniform rate system, in part because some city residents had become complacent about water usage. He said that while the city had plenty of water supplies for the future, residents needed to remember that when they use more water it increases the city’s cost to treat the water.

“Just go to the Kansas River bridge and look what’s going over the dam,” Dunfield said. “It doesn’t take much imagination to see how much it costs us to treat that water.”

In June, city commissioners had given preliminary approval to a new rate system that increased the price per gallon for large-volume users. Commissioners shelved that system after learning many lawn irrigators would experience increases of more than 30 percent during a typical summer month.

“We don’t want to punish people who are watering their lawns, but we also don’t want to punish people who are careful with their water use,” Dunfield said.

Other projects

Opinions were mixed among residents Friday in downtown Lawrence. Tracy Powell said she thought eliminating the discount large users received was the right message to send.

“And if they’re watering that much, they can probably afford the increase,” Powell said.

Carol Abrahamson, a Lawrence resident who has both an irrigation system and a water garden, said she recognized the need to use water wisely.

“I have to admit I feel a little guilty when we water so much,” she said. “But I have mixed feelings about an increase. It wouldn’t hurt my feelings if they didn’t go hog wild with it. I would rather they phase it in more.”

In addition to water rates, commissioners will consider an increase in the city’s wastewater rate. The lone proposal the commission will consider calls for the typical 10,000 gallon wastewater bill to increase to $46 from $38.84 per month, an increase of 18 percent.

Both the water and wastewater rate increases are needed to fund projects to maintain the system and allow it to accommodate the city’s growing population, said Debbie Van Saun, assistant city manager.

Among the projects the rate increases are expected to help finance during the next five years are a much-talked-about wastewater treatment plant on the Wakarusa River. The plant, in combination with the existing plant on the Kansas River, is expected to meet the city’s sewer needs as it grows to an estimated population of 150,000 by 2025. It also is expected to allow the city limits to extend south of the Wakarusa for the first time.

Construction work on the estimated $60 million project is expected to begin in 2009. Without the new plant, or an expansion of the existing plant, the city would run out of sewer plant capacity by 2011, Van Saun said.