She says city leaders have “a civil and moral obligation” to provide water, but “unfortunately, it's an extremely expensive undertaking.” Still, Sorensen says restricting water flow is a better alternative to shutting water off completely - the industry norm.
One water department employee told the Phoenix New Times anonymously that low flow barely gives people enough water to shower. With this device, “it would take more like 15 or 20 seconds to fill a cup of water.”īut some critics say the city is overestimating the amount of water it provides under a restricted flow. “So normally it takes, for example, a second to fill up a cup of water,” she says. The city experimented with a device that provides enough water for indoor needs - showering, washing dishes - but restricts the flow needed for other things like outdoor landscaping. While Sorensen says this idea is “well-intended,” she thinks the issue should be left up to state and local leaders who know their communities best.Įven before the pandemic hit, city leaders in Phoenix were trying to address this issue by restricting water flow to households that weren’t paying their bills rather than cutting it off, she says. “What that means is that our water demands are higher and our revenues are higher as a result.”Įfforts by Democrats to devise a federal moratorium on utility payments have stalled in Congress. One of the things that has actually helped our finances, ironically, is that it is so hot here this summer in Phoenix,” she says. “Our promise to our creditors is that we will, in fact, faithfully and responsibly collect revenues from our customers. Publicly owned infrastructure is covered by bonds in Phoenix, which brings the promise of more revenue during an “abnormally hot” summer, Sorensen says.
The economic collapse triggered by the pandemic has also crippled city and state budgets. “For example, when the stimulus checks came out, we saw a big surge in payment of past delinquencies.” “I think they understand that if they can't keep up with their bills now, that a much larger one is coming down the road,” she says. While there have been a higher number of missed payments than usual, Sorensen says most of the utility’s 1.5 million customers are continuing to pay their bills. We kind of are playing it day by day and seeing how things go.” “So I do see us potentially extending probably at least for a few more months, maybe even longer than that. “Summers here are always hot, but even for us, this one's been pretty bad,” she says. But now the city is facing some tough decisions.Ĭity leaders are considering an extension to the moratorium on water shut off due to the pandemic, says Kathryn Sorensen, director of the Phoenix Water Services Department. Like many cities across the country, Phoenix announced in March that it wouldn’t cut off water through the summer if people don’t pay their bills. The city has also been a COVID-19 hotspot, and as Congress remains deadlocked on pandemic relief, many people will struggle to pay their rent next month - and probably their utility bills, too.
Phoenix officially recorded its hottest summer on record this week with an average high of nearly 108 degrees. Facebook Email Water trickles out of a faucet.
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