The San Jacinto River Authority kept wholesale water rates for Spring-area utility districts unchanged for the coming fiscal year while approving a 9% raw water rate increase for its Highlands division in east Harris County.

The SJRA board approved its fiscal year 2026-27 operating budget at its Thursday, Aug. 27 meeting, Community Impact Newspaper reported. The budget takes effect Sept. 1.

For customers in the Groundwater Reduction Plan (GRP), which supplies water to municipal utility districts, investor-owned utilities and municipalities across the greater Houston area, rates will hold steady. The groundwater pumping fee stays at $2.51 per 1,000 gallons and the surface water fee stays at $3.10 per 1,000 gallons. MUDs that purchase wholesale water through the GRP will see no increase from SJRA this cycle.

The raw water rate, which applies to the Highlands division's industrial, municipal and agricultural customers in east Harris County, will rise from $0.66 to $0.72 per 1,000 gallons. That 9.09% increase takes effect in January 2027. Rates will remain at $0.66 from September through December.

SJRA Controller Jamye Lewis said "the reasoning behind this rate increase is to help fund various projects in the Highlands division." Lewis told the board the budget prioritized maintaining high levels of service to customers rather than generating revenue.

The Highlands division is SJRA's oldest, dating to 1937. It delivers more water daily than all other SJRA divisions combined through a 27-mile canal system originally built in the 1940s by the Federal Works Agency. Lewis said that from 1990 to 2008, there was a flat raw water rate and very little investment in the division. New management began addressing aging infrastructure in 2012 after voters approved four bonds.

The total raw water enterprise budget for the fiscal year is $22.7 million. The Highlands division accounts for $18.8 million of that, with the remainder split among flood management ($1.14 million), Lake Conroe ($2.6 million) and general administration ($72,712).

SJRA receives no state appropriations and has no taxing authority. It is funded solely through contracts with wholesale customers. Each division's budget is kept separate, and customers pay only for the divisions where they are located.

The next SJRA board meeting is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 26 at 8 a.m.