As drought deepens, Wichita is poised to double rates for biggest water users

Wichita could soon raise rates for its high-volume water users as it ramps up its response to the drought.

Next month, public works director Gary Janzen will present the City Council with a proposal to roughly double rates for tier two and three water customers, which would largely affect businesses that get their water from the city.

Most residential customers would not be affected by the proposed rate changes. Only 18% of residential customers ever reach tier two (more than 110% of average winter consumption) and only 2% reach tier three (more than 310% average winter consumption), according to data provided by Janzen at a council workshop Tuesday,

Wholesale customers — including the cities of Derby, Valley Center and Bel Aire — also would not be affected.

Businesses within city limits currently pay $11.19 per 1,000 gallons if they fall into tier two and $16.37 per 1,000 gallons if they’re tier three. If the council approves changes, those rates will swell to $23.32 and $34.28 per 1,000 gallons, respectively. Similar rate increases would apply to out-of-city businesses, which already pay more for water than their Wichita counterparts.

Residential Wichita customers who use enough water to reach tier two would see their rate per 1,000 gallons increase from $10.78 to $22.57, and the smaller subset who use enough to reach tier three would go from paying $15.77 per 1,000 gallons to $33.02.

Biggest water users

Between June 1, 2023 and July 12, 2024, Spirit AeroSystems purchased 841.1 million gallons of potable water from the city of Wichita, not including recycled water from the wastewater treatment center, according to data provided by the city in response to an open records request. That’s by far the most water purchased by any commercial customer, and more than any wholesale customer except the city of Derby, which purchased more than 1.03 billion gallons.

A spokesperson for Spirit did not respond to a request for comment about whether higher water rates would force the company to adjust its operations. Dold Foods, the city’s second biggest commercial water customer, also did not respond to a request for comment.

Janzen said it doesn’t necessarily make sense to limit the number of gallons the city sells commercial water customers like Spirit and Dold. Raising rates allows them to adjust their own water use as they see fit.

“Those companies that are using that water as part of their business model, they employ a lot of people in this community. And I’m not so sure that we can make a claim that they’re using water unwisely or unfairly when it’s part of what they do for their business,” Janzen said. “We’re always interested in talking to them. We’re always looking for ways to collaborate with them for savings. That’s not always the best place that we can find water savings. Again, we’ve got to focus on this outdoor usage.”

Voluntary conservation

With water levels at Cheney Reservoir nearing historic lows, the proposed rate changes for water customers come as officials attempt to stave off mandatory once-a-week outdoor watering restrictions .

Last month, the City Council voted 4-3 to remove the automatic trigger for implementing watering restrictions when reservoir levels dip below a 69% 12-month running average. It’s now up to City Manager Robert Layton to determine when or if mandatory conservation efforts are imposed, at the recommendation of Janzen and his staff.

The reservoir is currently 63.9% full and the 12-month average was 69.9% on July 1. It’s expected to dip below 69% by Aug. 1.

On Tuesday, Janzen said the plan for now is to continue asking water customers to voluntarily limit lawn and garden irrigation to once a week between 8 p.m. and 10 a.m.

“We have seen a reduction in water use, internally and through the community because of our efforts. We are using less water now than we did in 2023,” said Janzen, who did not provide the council with year-over-year water use data. “We are certainly using less water now across the community than we did back in 2013 when the drought response plan was created.”

He said if voluntary conservation results in a 10% reduction in water use in the next few months, the city may be able to avoid mandatory restrictions, which would carry fines for water customers who irrigate more than once a week.

City drought measures

The city plans to suspend the planting of all new trees and shrubs on city property, and to limit the watering of turf fields to one day a week. The city’s wholesale water customers will be asked to do the same.

Public works will also adjust its water blend to “limit the use of Cheney water to the maximum extent possible while maintaining safe drinking water requirements,” Janzen said. That means supplementing water from the reservoir with a larger proportion of groundwater from the Equus Beds Aquifer.

“Right now, we’re close to where we are on the blend that our plant can accept, but we’re going to push to the absolute limit at our current water treatment plant to treat as much groundwater as possible to take some additional stress off of Cheney,” he said.

That will increase operating costs and require some additional chemicals, but Janzen said he believes it’s a “prudent” decision. Ultimately, he said, when the city’s new water plant comes online next spring, it will have the capacity to treat 100% groundwater.