RISON - The Cleveland County Rural Water Users Association announced this week that it will be increasing its water rates to put the service in compliance with Act 605 of 2021.
The Cleveland County Rural Water Board met Monday night with Chris Harris, deputy director of the Arkansas Rural Water Association, to discuss a rate study he conducted on the water system to put it in compliance with the new state law.
Cleveland County Rural Water provides services to about 650 customers along Hwy. 35 north and south of Rison as well as in the Unionville area.
Act 605 requires all public water providers in the state to conduct a water rate study and implement the rates determined by that study. The study must deter-mine a rate that will provide enough revenue to cover the cost of operating and maintaining the system plus provide a 5 percent surplus that will be set aside in a fund replacing or upgrading the system in the future. The law requires those systems with 500 or fewer customers to conduct a study by July 1, 2024, while those with 500 to 1,000 customers must do a study by July 1, 2025. The Cleveland County Rural Water Board voted Monday night to implement the rates determined by the study. The study found the water system needed a slight increase in the base rate while the rate for every 1,000 gallons of water used will increase to $8.90. In an example of what the rate increase will look like at cus-tomer, someone who uses 3,470 gallons of water within a month will see their bill increase from $33.12 to $41.50.
The rate study can be reviewed in the Cleveland County Rural Water office at 205 Pine Street in Rison from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays.
The new rates will begin in February with customers seeing the higher rates reflected on the bill they receive in March.
Harris complimented the Cleveland County Rural Water Association during Monday night's meeting, noting that its water loss was well below the perc...
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