The Denver Water Board voted 3-0 Wednesday to increase the surcharges on users who exceed limits set to reduce demand while the area weathers a historic drought.

Those limits have been loosened a bit, thanks to last month's blizzard.

But with Colorado's snowpack registering 94 percent of average on April 1, the board still intends to impose the surcharge as a way to save water.

Exactly how much the extra charges will amount to will be determined April 16, when the board meets again to declare a Stage 2 drought or the more severe Stage 3 drought.

"Stage 2 seems to be the more likely scenario," said board spokeswoman Trina McGuire-Collier.

If that's the case, the average customer, a single-family home of 2.7 people, would be allowed to use up to 18,000 gallons of water bimonthly without having to face a surcharge.

But above that threshold, a graduated series of surcharges rising from 80 cents to $11.85 per 1,000 gallons used would kick in.

According to Denver Water, the average household uses 32,000 gallons every two months in summer.

But by following watering restrictions this summer, that household should be able to cut its use to 22,000 gallons every two months. If so, the house will exceed the 18,000 limit by 4,000 gallons, but its overall bill will drop.

The plan is aimed at reducing water consumption by 30 percent. The surcharges will remain in effect until reservoirs are at least 80 percent full.

Large commercial users and industrial customers would face similar surcharges.

Those extra charges should start to appear on bills as early as June 1.

They replace a drought surcharge adopted by the water board in August, which charged 25 cents to 75 cents extra per 1,000 gallons used.

Before the vote, homeowners from a southeast Denver neighborhood questioned why suburban customers were not paying a higher surcharge.

"It's not logical, but it's true," said Tess Henry of the Cherry Point Home-owners Association. "The surcharge is inversely related to delivery costs."

She argued that city water users should pay less of a surcharge because the water does not have to go as far.

But water department officials said that suburban users typically pay rates that are 30 percent to 60 percent higher for their water.

"The surcharges are not cost-based," said Doug LaFrance, the water department's director of finance.

The idea was to encourage just as much conservation in the suburbs as the city, he said.

"One thousand gallons of water saved in the suburbs is just as valuable, regardless of the location."

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