With some acrimony, Carson City supervisors unanimously agreed Thursday to a water rate hike that will boost the average resident's monthly bill some 14 percent by the end of the year.
"Nobody likes it, nor should they," but the city needs vast improvements in its water system, said Carson City Mayor Marv Teixeira.
"Now comes the point in time to pay."
The increase, city officials say, will help pay off an estimated $35 million in improvements to Carson City's water system over the next five years. About $10 million of that is slated for new wells, so the city can pump water from the ground as fast or faster than residents use it.
While most Carson City homes will be hit with a 14 percent hike this year - 7 percent in April and another 7 percent in October - billing is set up on a tiered system, where higher-volume water users will pay more. For big users, bills will rise upwards of 30 percent by the end of this year.
Carson City resident Gil Yanuck, whose one-acre yard sucks enough water to classify him as a high-end user, complained about the increase, saying it doesn't take into account the fact people like him are regular residents who happen to have big yards.
High-end commercial users can pass their extra expense onto consumers, he said. "I have no one I can pass that cost onto."
This year, Yanuck said, there may be a lot of high-volume users as residents whose yards were torched by last year's Waterfall fire, which burned about 8,800 acres in west Carson City, try to re-establish their landscape. Many of those yards are critical to homeowners as a barrier between dry rangeland, which could burn again, and their home, Yanuck added.
"That's going to take a lot of water," he said.
While high-end users account for only about 15 percent of the city's customers, they use about 30 percent of water pumped through the system, city officials said, and the tiered rate increases reflect that imbalance.
"The people who use the most (water) should pay the most," Teixeira said.
Carson City staff members are researching water-conservation programs and incentives so the city and its residents might cut down on water use, and water bills, as the rates climb.
University of Nevada, Reno Cooperative Extension officials are also planning on holding several water conservation classes this spring and summer.
n Contact reporter Cory McConnell at cmcconnell@nevadaappeal.com.