Skyrocketing DC Water Bills Leave Some Customers Unable to Pay

It’s called the Clean Rivers Impervious Area Charge, or IAC, and it’s on every DC water bill. The fee pays for the building of large underground tunnels to keep sewage and stormwater from flooding our rivers. The project stems from a federal mandate to fix the environmental problem. … … DC Water does have a formula based on aerial photos of every D.C. property. Those photos are used to calculate the square footage of the buildings and any areas of concrete, like sidewalks or parking lots. The thinking is the properties with the most concrete would contribute the most stormwater runoff and should pay more.

We are asked to believe that the small churches located east of the Anacostia river contribute more to storm water run off than the vast concrete canyons of K Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. The reasoning behind this penalizes the churches of the poor for the benefit of the rich. If the system for calculating this fee is not changed, and the local churches not given some form of relief most of them will be forced to close. Should that occur not only would their congregations lose a crucial part of their spiritual life, the community would lose a crucial resource. If these churches fold the florists and funeral homes that work with them will almost certainly fold as well. As churches, florists, and funeral homes close their congregations are more likely to be forced out of the city. This will further facilitate the current trend towards gentrification. It is simply not possible to dismiss the suspicion that this was the idea all along.