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Increased water rates that include a fee to promote water conservation will begin July 7 for Tucson Water customers.

The City Council voted 5-0 Tuesday to increase Tucson Water rates, which will also pay for the city to purchase its full allocation of Colorado River water via the Central Arizona Project. Mayor Bob Walkup and Councilwoman Shirley Scott were absent.

The increase is set to bring in about 8 percent more to the department but is scheduled to cost less than 8 percent for average single-family water customers and other customers who use less water.

The average single-family residential customer uses less than 1,500 cubic feet of water, about 11,250 gallons, per month and will incur a total increase of less than $1.50 per month, based on Tucson Water figures.

The money brought in with the water-conservation fee is to go toward a program that replaces regular toilets with low-flow toilets, funding irrigation upgrades for apartments and other multifamily housing locations and paying to replace commercial food-service spray valves with more efficient sprayers.

Several speakers, representing environmental organizations and local groups, addressed the positive aspects of a water-conservation fee during the public hearing.

"The water rates are very low and rates indicate the value of a resource to us," said Nancy Laney, executive director of the Tucson Botanical Gardens.

The rate increase is expected to bring in an additional $9.5 million to Tucson Water. About $1.5 million of that would be collected for the water-conservation efforts.

Councilman Rodney Glassman noted that it would be the first dedicated funding source for water conservation. Councilman Steve Leal said he hoped the conservation efforts would eventually become common practice for Tucson Water customers.

The council also approved residency standards for new department heads hired by the city.

All new department directors must be city residents, according to the new regulation. Department directors hired from outside agencies will have six months to relocate to the city. A city employee promoted to the department-director level will have 18 months to move into the city.

The measure passed on a 4-1 vote, with Councilwoman Nina Trasoff voting no. Walkup and Scott were absent.

Trasoff said she couldn't vote for the measure without an exception for current city employees or the ability for the City Council to grant exceptions to the residency requirement.

The council also discussed requiring commercial property owners to disclose to potential tenants the opportunity to discuss Certificate of Occupancy requirements with the Development Services Department. This item was scheduled for a vote during the consent agenda, but the council did not take action.