Queen Creek residents will face rising water charges starting in January as the town implements a new water resource fee. The Town Council reviewed financial details during a September 2 presentation, outlining a plan to fund the purchase of 1.7 million acre-feet of water from the Harquahala Basin. This acquisition is intended to secure the town’s water supply for the next century.
The total cost for these water projects, including principal and interest, is estimated at $730 million. Scott McCarty, deputy town manager and finance director, stated that these costs will be repaid over a period of 30 to 40 years. The new fee will be added to monthly utility bills and is designed to increase annually for the first six years of the program.
For average single-family households with both town water and sewer service, the monthly fee is projected to rise from $16 to $57 over that six-year period. Customers who rely solely on town water and use septic systems will see their fees climb from $40 to $138 per month.
McCarty noted that these figures are averages and that individual bills vary based on usage, citing approximately 46,000 different billing scenarios among the town’s customers.
Marc Skopycec, director of utilities, explained that the shift to Harquahala water aims to reduce reliance on expensive groundwater and protect the town from drought and potential reductions in Colorado River allocations. Water from the new source is expected to begin flowing into Queen Creek within four to six years, pending federal environmental reviews and infrastructure construction.
In the interim, the town will continue using current sources and utilize groundwater credits from the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishing District.
