PWSD 9 in Boone County freezes charging customers a lawn irrigation fee

UPDATE: Public Water Supply District has decided to put the irrigation fee on hold after residents expressed their frustrations with the fee at a forum on Tuesday night.

Residents within water supply district 9 say in some areas a irrigation system is required for the housing so charging a fee wouldn’t be fair.

The district says they will discuss more on the 3rd Tuesday of October.

ORIGINAL: Customers with Public Water Supply District 9 are seeing a new charge added to their monthly water bill.

Customers will see a minimum charge of $10.00 a month per year, for having a lawn irrigation system. Regardless if they use the irrigation system or not, customers will be charged.

The minimum charge will start at $10.00 a month and can go as high as $70.00 a month for having a irrigation system.

Public Water Supply District board says the only way to avoid the fee is to deactivate their irrigation system by removing the backflow device and physically separate the irrigation system from the Public Water Supply. Once those are complete the work needs to be inspected and verified by district staff and sign a deactivation form.

If the customer reconnects their irrigation system without prior notification to the Public Water Supply District, a $500.00 penalty and irrigation system fee charge for the months system that the water was used will be applied.

The board says the irrigation system fees will be used towards repair and maintenance of existing water sources and the development of new water sources for Public Water Supply District No. 9.

The usage range amounts will be reviewed annually and adjusted based on the three highest months’ usage during the months of April through October.

The board says the fees are charged on a monthly basis to lessen the impact to the customer, rather than a lump sum fee each summer or in a condense charge period of a few months.

Fees will only be charged to those customers with irrigation systems, not those with pools or hoses watering lawns and gardens.