League City residents will soon see a hike in water and sewer rates after the League City City Council discusses and votes on the issue Feb. 25.

The city expects to spend over $501 million over the next 10 years on water-related projects, including a new, bigger water main from Houston to League City; an expansion of the water treatment plant in Houston from which League City gets most of its water; the reservation of an additional 20 million gallons of water a day as the city grows; and other related projects.

To help pay for the projects, water rates will go up, city officials have said.

The city last year hired Willdan, a financial consulting business, to assess League City's water rates and needs. Willdan offered several methods to increase water rates.

After some discussion, the City Council leaned toward an option that would increase rates based on water users' meter sizes, which means residents would not see as big an increase in water rates as commercial businesses would, staff said.