DC Water announced today a schedule for town hall meetings in all 8 wards, outreach which provides customers an opportunity to learn about the water authority’s proposed rates and fees for next year while allowing the public to share concerns, comments and ideas. The meetings are intended to provide customers with an opportunity to comment on new rates for the fiscal year that begins October 1.  The Clean Rivers program is currently funded entirely with the Clean Rivers Impervious Area Charge (CRIAC).  Under the current proposal, a portion of the $2.7 billion Clean Rivers program will also be funded with the volumetric rate.

While rates and fees are changing, the average household increase will be about 5.7%, which was approved a year ago. However, large users of water, including apartment buildings, office buildings, and other buildings with higher usage may also see an increase in their bills.  DC Water is pursuing this change because it will bring more equity to funding for the Clean Rivers program – both by allowing customers to control their charges by using less volume and also responding to complaints that some customers using little or no water still had very high charges.

All of the rates will be the subject of a DC Water Board of Directors public hearing on June 12 at 6:30 pm at 1385 Canal Street SE. The new element to the rate proposal is a shift to a partial volumetric system for calculating the Clean Rivers Impervious Area Charge, which covers the costs of building the Clean Rivers project. In the new fiscal year, CRIAC charges are projected to drop from an average of $23 per home to $20.94 per home, with increases in the sewer rate: from $7.75 to $8.89 per month on average homes. This is because about 18% of Clean Rivers costs will be funded from the sewer volumetric and the remainder will be funded with the CRIAC. The public meetings will begin next week with a gathering in Ward 1 and run through mid-June when the final meeting is held in Ward 8. All meetings are being held at recreation and community centers in neighborhoods to facilitate participation.

As always, any customer can share their opinion with DC Water through the authority’s customer service line at 202-354-3600, via our social media feeds on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram or through email via Customer.Service@dcwater.com

The full schedule of meetings, all of which begin at 6:30 pm, is below:

Ward 1 Town Hall Meeting

Thursday, May 23
Columbia Heights Community Center-1480 Girard Street NW

Ward 2 Town Hall Meeting

Tuesday, May 28
Jelleff Recreation Center-3265 S Street NW

Ward 3 Town Hall Meeting

Wednesday, May 29
Palisades Recreation Center and Playground-5200 Sherier Place NW

Ward 4 Town Hall Meeting

Monday, June 3
Emery Heights Community Center-5701 Georgia Avenue NW

Ward 5 Town Hall Meeting

Tuesday, June 4
Trinidad Recreation Center-1310 Childress Street NE

Ward 6 Town Hall Meeting

Wednesday, June 5
Kennedy Recreation Center-1401 7th Street NW

Ward 7 Town Hall Meeting

Thursday, June 6
Deanwood Recreation Center-1350 49th Street NE

Ward 8 Town Hall Meeting

Monday, June 10
Bald Eagle Recreation Center-185 Joliet Street SW