City of Katy residents will once again see a slight increase in their water bills after City Council approved a rate hike at its Dec. 14 meeting. Residents will see the increase on their February water bills, said Becky Wilkins, finance director and treasurer for the city of Katy. In a 4-1 vote, council approved raising water rates for the more than 5,000 customers by 36 cents a month. The rate increase is estimated for those who use an average of 3,000 gallons per month. The increase was initiated by the West Harris County Regional Water Authority. The WHCRWA is implementing a series of projects—which are required by the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District—to reduce the reliance on groundwater by utilizing more surface water. “There’s a large number of projects that need to be done," said Wayne Ahrens, an engineer with the WHCRWA. "Funding those projects is the reason for the rate increase. They just have to be funded and it costs money.” Wilkins said the rate from WHCRWA went from $2.05 per 1,000 gallons of usage in 2015 to $2.25 per 1,000 gallons of usage for 2016. “The city is paying $2.25 now, and we’re passing on the cost of $1.23 to the customer,” Wilkins said. “West Harris [County] has gone up considerably. Over the past couple of years, the city has taken much of that increase.” The city of Katy gets its water from two different entities—the WHCRWA and the Bluebonnet Groundwater Conservation District. “There’s not a lot of difference," Wilkins said. "It’s an increase of 36 cents a month per customer. There’s only a finite amount of water. When it runs out it runs out. It’s hard to fight water rate increases.” Council member J. Gary Jones was the lone vote against the increase, and said the WHCRWA passes on the rate increase to area cities. The rising cost of water in the region is one reason the city of Katy is working on a new source of water from Waller County, City Administrator Byron Hebert said. “We have a site location and the plans are finished,” Hebert said of the proposed $3.5 million facility in Waller County. “So after the first of the year we’ll begin the bid process.” Hebert said the new facility would draw water from a single water well located south of I-10 and west of Pederson Road. The estimated timeline to build the plant is one year after the bid process is decided. Future plans involve drawing water from a second well, however, Hebert said that would be at least five years down the road. The city of Katy will continue to draw water from the WHCRWA after the new well goes online, but Hebert said the new Waller County well will provide another option for the city to keep water prices low for residents. “[WHCRWA] water is $2.25 per 1,000 gallons," Hebert said. "[Waller County] is 45 cents per 1,000 gallons. As our future growth continues, we’ll be able to rely on that well. We’re fortunate to have the Waller County wells." For more information on the area’s water issues, click here.