https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article248354395.html

Relief may be coming for residents whose water bills have skyrocketed over the last decade because of Kansas City’s federally mandated sewer upgrades.

The improvements are meant to address sewage overflows and upgrade Kansas City’s aging infrastructure — mandated in a consent decree signed in 2010 by the city, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice.

But for years the upgrades have forced steep increases to residents’ water rates.

Now it appears City Hall has reached a tentative agreement with the federal government that might ease that burden. City Council members voted unanimously Thursday to allow the city to execute that amended agreement. Officials in the EPA and DOJ would need to approve it.