Missouri City council approves groundwater-reduction fee increase to fund water projects, 5-2

Missouri City — The City Council on Monday approved a utility fee increase tied to the city’s Groundwater Reduction Plan, voting 5-2 to raise GRP fees by $0.40 per 1,000 gallons to help fund projects that will convert more customers to surface water.

City staff and the GRP oversight committee said the rise is needed to pay for capital work — including a transmission line, a new water well and storage-tank upgrades in the Mustang Bayou service area — and to meet a Fort Bend Subsidence District requirement that the region use more surface water. Nicholas Cook, the city’s assistant utilities director, told council the committee “met March 5 and unanimously recommended a fee increase of 40¢ per thousand gallons for all GRP customers.”

The fee change moves surface-water users from $2.58 to $2.98 per 1,000 gallons and groundwater users from $1.99 to $2.39 per 1,000 gallons, staff said. Cook estimated the increase would add about $4 per month for a household using 10,000 gallons. Council set an effective date of Oct. 1 to give municipal utility districts (MUDs) time to include the change in…