With
growth, the billing has gone up, but the amount of water
supplied actually has dropped slightly, according to the
figures supplied by Francom, who believes efforts at conservation
are beginning to show results. He said, however, there
is still a long way to go.
In
May 2005, the water company billed for 22,987 gallons.
In
May 2007, 30,913 gallons were billed. Conversely, the
company supplied 33,180 gallons in May ’05, but only 29,937
gallons in May ’07.
The
average bill per meter was for 17,318 gallons per month,
but Francom said that included every meter–commercial
and residential.
Board
chair Wayne Fulcher asked Francom to separate commercial
meters from his figures for the next meeting so they could
get a handle on what the average home uses every month.
Water
conservation arose during discussion of the town’s drought
emergency plan, first presented last month at a special
work session. The plan shows three stages of conservation,
of
which the first two are voluntary reductions. The third
stage is mandatory.
The
plan was adopted unanimously by the water board.
In
Stage I, residents and businesses would be asked to cut
back on water usage by 10 percent. At Stage II, another
five‑percent curtailment would be called for–a total
of 15 percent.
At
Stage III, water conservation could be mandated by the
state. Residential and commercial property owners would
be required to cut usage by 20 percent, and no outside
water or irrigation would be allowed. Household use would
also come under scrutiny.
In
addition, all water meters would incur a surcharge of
$8.36 a month. And if a resident on a meter up to one
inch in size uses more than 7,000 gallons a month, their
rate would rise another $4.50 per 1,000 gallons above
that limit–up to 10,000 gallons.
Should
a resident use more than 10,000 gallons in a month, a
third‑tier water rate kicks in and
that property owner would be charged an additional $9.50
per 1,000 gallons above the second‑tier
charge.
Francom
told The Desert Advocate on June 8 that people in Carefree
use more water, proportionally, than surrounding towns.
“We
need to get everyone conscious of the need to conserve
more water. Every town in Arizona
is facing the same situation,” he said. “The fact is,
we have a lot of people who use way too much water.”
Francom
did stress, though, there are many Carefree residents
who do their best to conserve. However, part of the problem,
he related, stems from part‑time residents who aren’t
aware of how much water they’re using for irrigation and
other amenities.
“They
just don’t know,” he said, adding a lot of those people
would adjust their usage once they are aware of what’s
going on.
