Costs could rise for Queen Creek water customers, but town officials said it will be cheaper in the long run.
Town officials proposed charging water customers an additional $3.07 per 1,000 gallons to transition the town off a regional groundwater recharging utility while covering costs of buying roughly 1.7 million acre-feet of water from the Harquahala Valley.
One acre-foot is roughly equivalent to the amount of water used by three single-family homes in a year, according to the Arizona Department of Water Resources.
The average residential customer could pay as much as $30.70 extra per month, although the exact cost will vary depending on the kind of account each water customer has, town finance director Scott McCarty said at a Sept. 2 council
meeting.
Customers who get their wastewater services from Queen Creek would get a credit, which would reduce the possible impact to $18.42 per month, according to the town website.
The town could also phase in five additional increases over the next five years, according to a Sept. 2 council presentation.
This will help the town's water customers adjust to the new cost, while allowing Queen Creek to recoup the expenses over time, McCarty said at the council meeting.
The town council is scheduled to vote on whether to hold a public hearing on the fee at its 6 p.m. meeting on Sept. 16. If the vote passes, the hearing is expected to take place at the Nov. 18 meeting.
Why is Queen Creek considering raising water rates?
The new fee is part of a year-long effort by Queen Creek to take more control of its own destiny when it comes to water resources.
Switching to the Harquahala aquifer makes Queen Creek less reliant on the Colorado River, and controlling groundwater recharging will make the town less reliant on the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District, town utility director Marc Skocypec said in an interview.
Queen Creek is currently home to around 91,000 residents, but that number is expected to grow to roughly 150,000 in the next decade, according to the town's economic development department.
The Central Arizona Groundwater Recharge Agency helps Arizona water users comply with state laws requiring groundwater users to replace the water they use, according to the district's website.
Queen Creek got about 90% of its water from groundwater pumping in 2018, according to town statistics.
Now, it gets about 6% of its water from local groundwater pumping, 68% from Harquahala, 16% from treated wastewater, and 10% from the Colorado River, according to town statistics.
The regional groundwater agency prices out its replacement fees on 10-year-cycles, which leaves Queen Creek vulnerable to volatility in the water market, Skocypec said.
Queen Creek wants to have a long-term, locally controlled stable water resource, Skocypec said.
The new fee would replace the fee Queen Creek water customers currently pay to the regional groundwater recharge agency as part of their property tax bills.
It would also cover a portion of the fee the town has been paying to the regional agency on behalf of its water customers since 2018, according to a town press release.
Like this story? Get more East Valley news straight into your email inbox by signing up for our free weekly East Valley Newsletter, which comes out on Wednesdays.
Reporter Harrison Mantas, who covers Mesa, Gilbert, Queen Creek and San Tan Valley, can be reached at harrison.mantas@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X @HarrisonMantas or Instagram@harrisonmantas
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix suburb says new fee brings water independence
