Thursday, April 03, 2003 - Denver Water's 1.2 million customers, at least those who don't reduce water use, can thank the March blizzard for what are likely to be lower water bills this summer.

Customers will not pay surcharges on the first 18,000 gallons used every two months. The surcharges begin after that threshold and range from 80 cents to $11.85 for each additional 1,000 gallons used.

At a workshop March 17, held the day before the biggest blizzard in 90 years began, the water board discussed starting the surcharges at $2.48 per 1,000 gallons.

The storm, which dumped 3 to 7 feet of snow on parts of the state, also might lead to less severe restrictions on lawn watering and other water use when the board makes those decisions on April 16.

If the drought worsens, however, the level of the surcharges and the severity of the restrictions will follow suit.

The board, which heard public comments Wednesday, hopes surcharges will prompt customers to conserve. Those who follow all the board's water-use restrictions could not only avoid the surcharges but might pay less than they would if there was no drought, said Kerry Kuykendoll, the utility's manager of rate administration.

For the first 18,000 gallons, water for residential customers will remain at $1.58 per 1,000 gallons, as it has been for a long time.

The blizzard left the city's ballfields so drenched they have been closed until today. It also boosted the river basins that supply Denver Water's reservoirs to 111 percent of an average year's snowpack.

"It really gives you the basis for taking a more moderate approach," Marc Waage, water resource engineer for the state's largest utility, said of the snowpack.

The charges are effective immediately and will show up on bimonthly bills after June 1. They will remain in place until Denver Water's reservoirs are 80 percent full. On Wednesday, they were 43 percent full.

Two members of the public, both from the Cherry Point Homeowners Association, spoke up about the surcharges at Wednesday's water board meeting.

Tess Henry said the board was hoodwinking its customers in Denver by applying the same surcharges to them as to those who live in the suburbs. Since suburban customers pay more for water, they would pay a lower percentage of their total bill in surcharges, she said.

Board members and staff said the surcharge is not based on normal rates but is an incentive to get customers, wherever they live, to reduce water use.

Other Front Range water providers will consider surcharges and restrictions this month based on snowpack and how much water they think will flow into their reservoirs when it melts.

Denver Water's decisions are expected to set the standard for other Front Range utilities.

On Tuesday night, the Boulder City Council gave preliminary approval to raising its base rates by up to 10 percent, in addition to surcharges that start at $1 per thousand gallons and climb to $8, based on use.

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