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City of Phoenix Proposed Water Rate Increase

Residents in Phoenix have complained about the high water bill, but an increase could be on the way as the city council prepares to vote on an increase.

The City of Phoenix Water Services Department is recommending a 6% percent water rate increase in 2019 and a 6% water rate increase for 2020. There is no proposed sewer rate increase.

This rate increase roughly translates into a monthly increase of $2.35 in 2019 and an additional monthly increase of $2.29 in 2020 for the average residential water customer. 


With shortages looming on the Colorado River, about 40% of Phoenix water comes from Colorado River.  Phoenix water must build the infrastructure needed to pump and move alternative water supplies to portions of our distribution system normally served with Colorado River water. The rate increase will also provide funding for resources needed to invest in rehabilitation and replacement of the pipes, treatment plants, pumps, reservoirs, and wells that ensure reliable delivery of the city’s drinking water.

The Colorado River climate overall is becoming more arid. Due to a combination of higher temperatures and decreased in snow packs, flows from the Colorado River are expected to diminish by 25 percent in the next decade. The far north portion of Phoenix gets its water almost exclusively from the Colorado River.

“We have to plan for that anticipated drop in river water,” Sorensen from Phoenix Water and Sewerage Company explains. “There are many ways that can be accomplished, including ‘banking’ water and building up capacities in wells.”

To that end, an agreement has been reached with Salt River Project (SRP) to provide Phoenix with access to additional storage capacity in certain SRP-owned-and-operated underground water storage facilities. This allows Phoenix to store currently unused portions of its annual allocation of Colorado River water for later recovery during potential shortage events.

The city also is in the process of building a new large reservoir at the Deer Valley Water Treatment Plant, 3030 W. Dunlap Ave., to replace the old one built in the 1960s that had irreparable damage and was closed in 2011. But to pump that reservoir water north, the city needs very large transmission mains and pump stations along the way. A five-year plan of $500 million for Colorado River storage includes construction costs of these new mains and stations.

“Phoenix has planned for enough water, but not in the right places. We need to plan to get it moved,” Sorensen says. “It will take years, but we have enough time to be ready, if we start now.”

The other looming issue the city is dealing with is its aging infrastructure. The water services department has been around for 110 years. There are pipelines that were installed in the 1920s and 1930s. Given their age and the materials that were used at the time, there is a likelihood of multiple failures. There are 7,000 miles of water pipelines and 450,000 service lines in the city.

The plan is to triple the amount spent on retrofitting those aging and failing pipes. The proposed rate increases would help fund $525 million on pipeline repairs, through fiscal year 2022-23.

Phoenix water rates contain a generous “allowance” of water that is included each month in the fixed charge. For those that keep their water consumption within this allowance, average monthly bills will increase by only approximately $1 per month in 2019 and by an additional 75¢ per month in 2020. Phoenix water bills rank as one of the most affordable in the country.*

The push to raise water rates in phoenix is moving forward after the city council voted to advance the proposal to a December vote. The Phoenix Water Services Department is asking for the rate increase to provide one-point-five billion dollars for new projects and repairs.  If passed, it will raise water rates in Phoenix by 12-percent over the next two years.  The city says that would come out to an increase of around two-dollars and 35 cents a month for the average customer each of those years. The city officials says the rate hike is imperative to ensure water is available to all residents in the very real possibility of an extreme water shortage.

The final vote is scheduled for December 12th.

Although  Phoenix has drastically cut back on water usage, the city serves 400,000 more people than it did 20 years ago with the same amount of water conservation is not enough, Phoenix Water Services Director Kathryn Sorensen said.

“This is not a problem that we can conserve our way out of. The problem is we can’t push water where it needs to go,” she said. “We are not at panic. It’s bad and we see that so we are going to put concrete plans and infrastructure in place so we can withstand what comes.”