In an effort to remind shareholders and consumers to conserve water during Utah’s exceptional drought, a small water company is drastically raising rates for the biggest users. Eden Water Works implemented a 400% rate hike for shareholders who use more than 20,000 gallons of water.Eden Water Works board president Rod Lackey says the output of water from Burnett Springs, where the water for shareholders usually comes from, is just half at what it usually is for this time of year. He also says the thought of another dry winter is “pretty scary,” which is why he says they’re being particularly careful.
Utah Rivers Council Executive Director Zach Frankel says it’s time to raise water rates in Utah because the state has some of the lowest rates in the country. He says, “it’s time for Utahns to start thinking about water being valuable and charged as if water matters.”
Lackey says he hopes the increased rates are “getting everybody at least in the thought process of conserving water.”
