Water rate reviews coming as irrigation strains systems
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios
Several Des Moines communities will review water rates in the coming months as leaders address how high consumption — especially from lawn irrigation — strains Central Iowa's treatment infrastructure.
Why it matters: Cutting summer usage surges can help prevent another water crisis and keep costs down for everyone.
Catch up quick: Irrigation can use more than 40 million gallons of water daily across the Central Iowa Water Works (CIWW) network, with some communities experiencing spikes that are twice their average daily use.
- Overall demand dropped about 33% just days after a lawn watering ban began in June, enabling treatment plants to maintain sufficient nitrate removal for essential needs.
State of play: CIWW was established last year to coordinate water production among its 12 member entities.
- Each municipality has agreed to a capacity limit, and repeatedly exceeding it can lead to significant financial consequences, including being responsible for covering the costs of additional water treatment facilities.
The intrigue: CIWW doesn't set prices or dictate how water is used — those are decisions made by each community.
Yes, but: Demand is a growing concern, CIWW executive director Tami Madsen tells Axios.
- The organization's Best Practices Committee is examining ways to implement and promote smarter irrigation and turf health, she says.
Context: Most metro cities already charge different and generally higher water rates for irrigation, but users usually pay less for that part of their bills because it doesn't include sewer fees.
- Des Moines Water Works (DMWW) implemented a rate recalibration in February that increased costs for high-usage customers and slightly decreased them for those with the lowest usage.
- Residential customers now pay twice as much ($10) per 1,000 gallons for usage over 9,000 gallons a month.
The latest: Service and rate reviews are ongoing or will begin in the coming months, officials at DMWW, Urbandale and Clive tell Axios.
- It's too early to tell if rates will change much, but discussions about how to reduce peak usage or who covers costs if consumption continues to rise remain open, Clive assistant city manager Peter De Kock tells Axios.
The bottom line: Lawn-watering restrictions ended last week, but concerns about another crisis continue.
👓 Worthy of your time: Lawn watering is usually unnecessary.