The Denver Board of Water Commissioners announced that citywide water rates will increase in 2024 to help fund “important upgrades” to the city’s system.

Water rates will officially increase on Jan. 1, 2024 for every resident that uses city water, according to a Wednesday news release by Denver Water. The estimated rate increase for a single-family home that uses the same amount of water as they did in 2023 will be an average increase of $1.60 to $2.30 every month, depending on where they live in the city. 

These increases are said to be both caused by both inflation and the need for new projects in the area.

“Denver Water is at a pivot point. These are historic times and we’ll be affected, just as the communities we serve will be affected, by climate change, population growth, variability in the economy, inflation and supply chains,” Alan Salazar, Denver Water’s CEO and manager, said in the release.

Denver Water looks to fund maintenance and improvement projects with $1.9 billion over the next 10 years into the system that “supports about 25% of the state’s population,” according to the release. These projects are said to “upgrade the system and make it more resilient and flexible in the future.”

Some of these projects include the ongoing Lead Reduction Program, the new Northwater Treatment Plant outside of Golden and replacing aging water mains under city streets.

Denver Water serves around 1.5 million people in the metropolitan area.