January Water Bills

Dear Residents of the Cotuit Fire District:
 
This post hopes to address some of your concerns for the January 2021 water bills. This bill represents your usage over the first 10,000 gallons used between July 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020.
 
Your bill may have increased significantly for the following reasons:
 
The residential water usage for this period was up an average of 30% or more over the same period last year. Water rates have not changed since July of 2019. The annual precipitation (rain/melted snow) for 2020 was 43 inches which represents a significant decrease of 38% from 2019 (70 inches) causing extended drought conditions throughout the district for most of 2020. Cape Cod and other parts of the state were declared to be under “significant drought” conditions (Level 2), by the Massachusetts Drought Management Taskforce last July, which remained in effect for months, the worst since 2016. You may note that bills are higher than usual due to the significant drought conditions experienced this summer causing higher usage increasing your irrigation use and/or hose watering of gardens, flowers, and koi ponds. In addition, many residents are home a lot more due to COVID restrictions. Many of you have worked from home, had kiddie pools or have family with you to stay safe on the Cape in lieu of being in their homes in the city.
 
All of these changes and summer experiences factor into the higher water bills. If you have concerns about your current bill you are always welcome to call our office at 508-428-2687 or email the office manager at jen@cotuitwater.org and we will be glad to assist you with your concerns.