Your Water Bill's Going Up This Year. And the Year After That. And the ... Well, You Get It.

I mention this in the comments below, but the 5.91 percent increase in our Dallas Water Utilities bill comin' this fall won't be the last one any time soon. Matter of fact, per this morning's council briefing, this is but the first -- and the smallest -- in the foreseeable future. As in: "Retail rates outlook for FY13 is 7.3% increase and FY14 is 6.9% increase." The reason, says City Manager Mary Suhm: prolonged drought conditions, for starters, not to mention a real need to begin replacing old water mains, especially those closer to the city center, as council member Tennell Atkins noted during his remarks this morning.

Other reasons cited for the bumps today and tomorrow:

• The integrated pipeline project to connect to Lake Palestine
• Improvements at water treatment plants to improve reliability and capacity
• Required restriction in water treatment capacity due to Eastside Water Treatment Plant expansion and associated water quality improvements

Delia Jasso suggested that "we need to start educating people now these numbers are going way up." Just doing our part.