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Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Hang on - big water rate increases coming

SIGN of the TIMES

(Editor's note: welcome to the inaugural SIGN OF THE TIMES, a brand new Gazette Blog feature whose title speaks for itself.)

We have always maintained that water rates are ridiculously low compared to other utilities. Well that apparently is about to change.

The Arizona Corporation Commission recently granted a water rate increase to Arizona American Water Company that will raise the rates in the Valley community of Anthem by 100 percent. Anthem residents will now see an average water/wastewater bill of $126.

Can similar increases for Brooke Utilities be far behind? And look what's happened to Town of Payson water rates in the past couple years.

The silver lining: maybe people will start to value this essential commodity. When something is as cheap as water has been, it's easy to take it for granted.

Water is the Achilles heel of the West and yet we waste and abuse it - especially in the Valley where they don't want to "scare" people by asking them to conserve water.

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