Whether you receive your water bill online or have it mailed to you, you may routinely skim through it without really reviewing the information it may contain.

Some water utilities around the North America are announcing planned increases to water rates. Rate increases aren’t usually celebrated by consumers – especially among households struggling to meet essential needs -- but it’s worthwhile to consider for a moment why they are necessary.

All of us are feeling the pinch, but for households near the poverty line, rising water bills can be devastating. Fortunately, there are conversations about creating a large-scale customer assistance program happening in the water sector.

A description of some of the rate structures water systems use.

Certain provisions in the 2018 Farm Bill are bringing the agriculture community and water utilities to the table to improve and protect source water.Nutrients used for farming can wash into our source water, which impacts water utilities aiming to manage water supplies. To help address this, the 2018 Farm Bill requires that 10 percent ($4 billion over the next 10 years) of conservation funding be targeted for source water protection. This funding goes through the Natural Resources Conservation S...