'No one wants a $500 water bill': Arizona town sees rates double in two years — but experts say high prices are a critical tool

The town allocated 43% of its water enterprise fund to water infrastructure improvement projects in 2026. One of those projects is “a network of eight wells to help draw groundwater as part of [the town’s] strategy to weather a future with less Colorado River water,” NPR reports.

Reducing consumption

Gilbert’s increases for water prices will allow for those much needed infrastructure projects, but some experts say that higher water prices can also impact conservation.

Kathryn Sorensen, director of research at the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University, told NPR that higher rates may be more effective at cutting water use than rules aimed at limiting how much water residents use, especially outdoors for yard care.

“I’m not convinced that voluntary or even involuntary water conservation measures necessarily get you a lot of water,” she told NPR. “What does work is a good price signal on what you pay for the water.”

In Phoenix, water prices are higher in the summer, which Sorensen told NPR can dissuade people from having water-guzzling lawns.

“When people get that bill, they see it and they feel it in their pocketbook,” Sorensen told NPR. “That can be really painful, and the change can be immediate. No one wants a $500 water bill in the middle of the summer, right? It works.”