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Update 6:40 p.m.

Water rates will soon increase in Colorado Springs, as Tuesday city council voted in favor of raising rates by 12 percent for the years 2011 and 2012.

Council voted 8-1 to pass the rate hike, with only Tom Gallagher in opposition.

The money will be used to help pay for the Southern Delivery System, which is expected to cost between $2.3 and $3 billion to build.

Proponents of the hike said the Southern Delivery System is necessary if the city is going to continue to grow.

"I think it is the right thing to do for our community, it is going to secure our water supply for at least 40 years," Mayor Lionel Rivera said.

Rivera said the city has done numerous studies dating back to 1997 on the project. He said in the long run it is going to benefit more than just the residents of Colorado Springs.

"We are going to be developing regional partnerships to provide water for some of our neighbors who rely on groundwater," Rivera said.

Opponents of the hike said city council should have invested more time in their decision. They said Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) did not provide them will all the information necessary to make a clear and accurate vote.

"I believe we have just gone down a road that future generations will look back and curse this council," Council Member Tom Gallagher said.

Gallagher said he is also concerned that there is not enough of a water supply for the project to be a long term solution.

"The fact of the matter is this community can only afford to do this project one time, there will be no second chance," Gallagher said.

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Update 3:40 p.m.

Colorado Springs City Council has approved a water rate hike in an 8-1 vote on Tuesday afternoon.

The rate increase takes effect for 2011 and 2012 seasons, implemented in two phases.

Watch FOX21 News at 6:30 and FOX21 News at 9 for complete details.

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Original story

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The Colorado Springs City Council is considering raising water rates to help pay for a pipeline system to ship water from Pueblo Reservoir.

The council is expected to vote Tuesday on raising water rates by 12 percent next year and in 2012.

The rate increases would be the first of six planned through 2016. If approved, water bills would more than double.

The rate increases would help finance a pipeline and pump stations to deliver water to Colorado Springs from Pueblo Reservoir. Estimates of the project's cost range from $2.3 billion to $3 billion, depending on whether new reservoirs are built.

(Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)