Board members of the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority will vote today on whether to reduce wholesale water rates.
Any reductions approved by the board, which determines water rates for the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County, would take effect this Saturday, Feb. 1.
However, city residents will not feel the effect of the proposed price reduction until Charlottesville City Council votes independently to enact it.
If approved by Rivanna today, the city's director of finance would pass reduction recommendations to Council. Council would then vote on the recommendations at their next meeting on Feb. 17, according to Judith Mueller, Rivanna board member and director of public works for the city.
Mueller said she expects it will be at least two weeks before any price drops are passed on from the city to individual water consumers, including the University's Central and North Grounds.
Customers of the Albemarle County Service Authority, however, can expect lower prices sooner.
Last Thursday, the authority's board of directors voted to lower water prices contingent on the approval of the Rivanna board.
According to Rivanna Board Chairman Richard Collins, dialogue regarding the possibility of reductions has been ongoing for months.
The possibility of lowering water prices is "not a surprise," Collins said. "There has been a lot of discussion since early December, when we increased the prices."
Rates were raised temporarily as a result of severe drought conditions this fall.
The increased price "was always understood as an emergency rate and never intended as a forever rate," Mueller said.
"Now that the reservoir has filled and use has returned to near-normal levels, we should be able to reduce [water prices] to customers," said J. William Brent, Rivanna board member and executive director of the Albemarle County Service Authority.
Tomorrow's vote was spurred by a Rivanna staff recommendation that water prices be dropped by 30 percent, according to Lawrence Tropea, executive director of Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority.
"It's not fair to keep the water rate at an elevated level -- it's a matter of fairness," Tropea said.
Members of the board said they expect the reduction to be approved without problem.
"I expect there will be a unanimous vote to reduce water prices," Collins said.
Collins, Brent and Mueller all said the board is likely to approve a 30 percent decrease in rates, although the level of reduction is up to the board's discretion.
Yet, while a current price drop looks likely, Tropea said he does not rule out increases in the future.
"If we want to have a first class water supply and be more resistant to droughts, rates in the future may have to go up," he said.
Collins agreed that the expected decrease in price will not last forever.
"Over a longer term, water [prices] will go up generally with the need to plan for further needs and safe, adequate supplies for the future," he said.
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