TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Tucson Water is presenting an option to the Mayor and City Council to adopt different water rates for customers who live outside the city limits in Pima County.
John Kmiec, director of Tucson Water says it's more expensive to provide water service to those areas due to higher peak usage demands, so those living across Pima County could see a higher bill.
If the proposed adjustment is adopted, customers in unincorporated Pima County would pay a 16% to 23% higher rate than customers within city limits.
Kmiec says 28% of Tucson Water customers are in unincorporated Pima County.
According to the City, the extended service areas require larger and more complex infrastructure, leading to higher operations and maintenance costs.
Because it costs more to deliver water to customers living outside city limits, Tucson Water would like rates to be adjusted to ensure charges are being fairly distributed and reflect actual service costs — so city customers may see a slight decrease in their water bills.
The City says this approach is standard practice stating Phoenix charges up to 50 percent more for outside city customers.
Sam Wesch, lives in the Westside outside of city limits and agrees with an increase up to a certain point.
“I’m okay if it’s one or two dollars. If my bill goes up 5%, fair enough, but if my bill goes up 25% that’s another story," Wesch said.
Tucson Water is also proposing an increase to two small fees.
The Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) could possibly be going up by $0.02 per 100 cubic feet (CCF). The current rate is $0.13 CCF. This fee supports projects such as rain gardens, which reduce flooding and improve neighborhoods.
The Conservation Fee could increase by $0.05 per CCF. The current rate is $0.10 CCF. This fee helps fund water-saving programs that protect our Sonoran Desert water supply.
To save money and conserve water during the summer months, experts say water your plants and grass wisely.
Tucson Water suggests you water your grass for 10-15 minutes three to four times a week, water your shrubs for one hour two to four t imes a week, and water your trees for one and a half hours one to two times a week.
Wesch is already ahead of the game using timers on his sprinkler system.
“We’ve got the timers set to go on at 5 a.m. You want to water in the coolest part of the day so the water has a chance to soak in," Wesch said.
He says he waters his grass for 15 minutes about every three days and has a drip irrigation system set up for his rose bushes.
"That way they're adjusted for a different amount of time, but you have to calculate how much water each zone in your irrigation plant is using," Sam described.
He says with the recent rainfall, he was able to save even more water.
"We've had half an inch of rain here a couple of days ago, so right now they're turned off. They'll get turned back on tomorrow," Sam said.
He even bought a new low-water use toilet that is getting installed Wednesday.
“Because right now we’ve got a toilet that’s using three gallons per flush, replacing it with one that uses 1.25 gallons," Wesch said.
He says he and wife are always mindful of what their bills are going to be.
"Our water use and our water bills have been fairly consistent, but they're gonna go up," Wesch said.
Wesch says he will also be working on some projects in the near future to get ahead of the water bill increases, such as switching out his grass for artificial turf.
"Taking out grass we don't need. Our next steps after that, we're looking at rainwater harvesting and storage to water the ornamental plants in the front," Wesch said. "That'll probably be a couple years down the road."
Wesch says there are always things people can do to conserve water and save money.
"If people don't want to do all those things, even if we're mindful of how much we're watering plants, when we're watering plants and just make sure we're not watering just for the sake of watering," Wesch said. "Best thing you can do is dig in the soil a little bit, see how moist it is, see how deep your water's going."
The water rate adjustments could take effect in August if adopted.
A public hearing will take place June 17 at City Hall where community members can share their input on the proposal.
Learn more about the water rates and adjustments here and the best ways to save water here.
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Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
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