Utah cities have cheapest excessive-use water rates of all surrounding states

ST. GEORGE — Despite an ongoing water shortage across the American West, Utah's major cities have the cheapest excessive-use water rates of all the surrounding states.

Southern Utah — where a combination of desert conditions and rapid population growth have fueled intense concerns over water — still has cheaper or similar water rates as the Wasatch Front.

KSL.com compared winter water fees in the cities of St. George, Washington, Salt Lake City and South Salt Lake, to the largest cities in neighboring states: Las Vegas, Boise, Phoenix, Denver and Cheyenne.

Water prices are calculated at the city level, with some additional fees imposed by water conservancy districts. Price calculations are found online at each city's website, and KSL.com reached out to representatives in various locations to confirm calculations and make amendments, as needed.

Water officials told KSL.com the average residence uses approximately 5,000 gallons of water per month. Most districts begin charging excessive-use rates for water between 5,000 and 8,000 gallons of residential use during winter months.

KSL.com estimated monthly water use for the standard meter size in each city at 5,000, 10,000, 15,000 and 20,000 gallons, using winter water rates.

Where is water cheapest

If homes across the West used four times greater the water amount than average, St. George has the cheapest bill. If a home in each city used 20,000 gallons of water in a month, St. George residents would still have the cheapest water bill, at $56.50.

South Salt Lake residents would be next, at $70.75.

Washington city residents would pay $74.22.

And Salt Lake City residents would pay $87.39.

Residents in surrounding states would pay higher fees than every Utah city examined. The next cheapest water rates would be in Denver and Phoenix, at $93.45 and $100.56, respectively. But those rates will increase in 2024 to over $107 each, in order to fund water infrastructure improvements and incentivize conservation.

Utah cities do not have rate hikes — beyond inflationary adjustments — planned for the same time period.

All other cities examined are already in the hundreds, with Las Vegas and Boise being the most expensive, at $152.77 and $178.88, respectively.

Excessive-use rate hikes hit new homes in southern Utah

In January 2023, the Washington County Water Conservancy — which serves much of southern Utah, including Washington and St. George — imposed an excessive-use charge of $10 for every thousand gallons of water above 8,000 gallons used. But the fee only applies to homes built in 2023 or after.

"Our general policy is that we feel it's a fundamental right for people to have clean, safe drinking water," said Zachary Remstrom, general manager at the Washington County Water Conservancy District. "We have a lot of people on fixed incomes or we have a lot of people on Social Security. So we want to make that initial allotment of water as cheap as possible."

"Once they get past that initial amount of what you need to live and be happy and healthy, our rates go up very aggressively, and we think that that should happen," he continued.

"The new rate that we have for new homes is one of the highest in the state of Utah — if not in the western United States," Renstrom said.

The fee does make the excessive-use of water in newly built southern Utah homes among the most expensive of the major surrounding cities, with St. George homeowners who use 20,000 gallons of water paying $176.50 and Washington homeowners $194.22.

However, existing homes will not incur excessive-use fees unless they use more than 36,000 gallons of water, after which they would be charged an additional $1 per thousand gallons used.

Ed Andrechak, water program manager at Conserve Southwest Utah, said 25% of people use 36,000 gallons of water or more and, "with some of the lowest water prices in the West — and the country, it provides a huge disincentive towards conservation."

South Salt Lake also has an excessive-use water fee of an additional $3.25 per 1,000 gallons of water over 5,000 used, which was included in previously mentioned figures.

These excessive-use fees do little to offset Utah's comparably cheap water use in existing homes.

Utah water conservation officers talk about easy ways to save water and money

KSL.com talked to the water officials across Utah to help you save water and money this time of year.

Should Utah do away with subsidies that deflate water costs?

Rusty Cannon, president of the Utah Taxpayers Association, says excess-use fees on new homes in southern Utah are "a step in the right direction," but "it does not go far enough."

"Utah, for a long time, has heavily subsidized water with property taxes and that needs to change. We've tried to help make that change for decades, but it's it is a very difficult battle," Cannon said.

"Water in Washington County does not reflect the true cost to supply it," Andrechak added. "Pricing is the easiest switch."

"Status quo is the No. 1 enemy," Cannon said. "Meaning, this is the way we've always done it — don't change it and you know, (water districts) argue that they need that property tax subsidy to build the infrastructure projects that they need to provide the water ... but we don't think that's true.

"Most other states rely heavier on user fees, and bonds structures could be changed, going forward, to accommodate a revenue stream based on user fees."

"If it doesn't drive up my cost, there's no motivation to conserve other than sense of guilt or morality, right? People need financial motivation to do the right thing. And this subsidy makes it tough to do that," Cannon said.

A 2023 report from the University of Utah Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute estimates over 90% of Utahns pay subsidized water rates, and cites figures that for every 10% increase in water rates, consumption declines 2.5% to 7.5%.

Attempts to repeal water subsidies were run unsuccessfully during the 2021 and 2022 Utah legislative sessions.

"We make an attempt every year," said Cannon. "We don't have anything specific coming up this session, but the effort will always continue."

Various state representatives told KSL.com they were not planning to run a subsidy removal bill for the upcoming session, which begins Jan. 16, but that could change. People interested in weighing in on subsidies or who have other water proposals should contact their state officials.

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