The City of Redmond plans to make some water more expensive in hopes residents will use less of it.
Under a new tiered rate structure set to kick in next year, water used in excess of a certain threshold will cost more per gallon than it did before. Based on current water use, most cost increases would apply when residents start watering lawns during the summer months, raising bills by anywhere from a few cents to $50.
The tiered rate structure was approved by the Redmond City Council Aug. 25. It’s set to go into effect April 1, 2027.
The move is meant to encourage conservation amid drought, population growth and regulatory constraints on the City’s ability to pump additional groundwater in the future.
“The more we can conserve, the better off we’ll be as a whole community,” Redmond Mayor Ed Fitch said during a July 28 City Council meeting. “No one likes any increase in rates on anything. But if we don’t do it, we’re going to be in worse shape.”
Public works staff estimate the higher rates could reduce the City’s water use by 5%, or between 60 million and 75 million gallons a year. That would put the City well on its way to its goal of reducing summer water use by 10%.
“Five percent is being very, very conservative,” Public Works Operations Manager Josh Wedding said July 28. “I think there’s a lot of opportunity to conserve more.”
A combination of factors including drought, a lack of rain and canal piping projects have led to steady declines in the Deschutes Basin aquifer, a natural underground water storage that supplies Redmond’s drinking water. That’s led state regulators with the Oregon Water Resources Department to stiffen groundwater pumping rules. The agency denied Redmond’s 2023 application to increase its annual groundwater limit, but allowed the City flexibility to pump more water in the summer, when demand skyrockets.
City officials have said the current water permit will be enough for 15 to 20 years of growth. If the City wants to pump more groundwater in the future, it will be important to show the state it’s made efforts to conserve, Fitch said.
To that end, Redmond has offered technology to monitor water use and rebates for weather-sensitive sprinkler controls and soil moisture trackers. It’s stopped short of offering rebates for residents who take out their lawns, a measure that Bend has taken up.
How the tiered system works
Given current water use in Redmond, upper-tier water rates would apply to about 37% of water bills throughout the calendar year, according to data Wedding presented to the City Council. During peak sprinkler season in July, about three-quarters of the City’s 12,000 water customer accounts would be using some of the higher-priced water.
Under the new structure, the price of the first 4,500 gallons a household uses per month will remain the same, at $1.65 per 100 cubic feet — the equivalent of 748 gallons. During the winter, the average Redmond household use falls within this first tier. If a household continues to use water, it gets progressively more expensive. The rate will be $1.73 per 100 cubic feet for gallons 4,500 to 9,000, jumping to $1.98 for gallons 9,000 through 15,700 and $2.23 for water used in excess of that.
Redmond also charges a fixed base rate of $20.38. By comparison, Bend charges a roughly $30 base rate for the average single-family home, plus $2.48 per 100 cubic feet.
Bend doesn’t have a tiered water rate structure, but about half of all utilities nationwide do, according to Deb Galardi, a consultant who helped the City with the rate project. That includes Oregon cities of similar size to Redmond, including Woodburn, Grants Pass, Corvallis and Ashland.
In the summer, the average household with a 1,500-square-foot irrigated lawn would fall into the upper end of the third tier. Water users in that range could see bills jump between $0.50 and $3.50, according to City staff.
Jay Patrick was the lone councilor to vote against the tiered water rate structure. He said he couldn’t get on board with raising costs for Redmond residents, especially when cities use only a small fraction of the water in the Deschutes Basin.
“I just can’t support raising costs for people who live in Redmond,” Patrick said. “I’m trying to think of ways we can go down, rather than go up.”
He also said he wanted more specificity on how the extra money would be spent.
Wedding, the public works director, said he anticipates the City won’t generate any extra money — while the City will charge more for water, the idea is that people will use less overall. Any extra money will be put back into the irrigation efficiency rebate program, Wedding said.
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