huh? what?

"COLLEGE PARK, Ga. (AP) -- After months of putting up with brown lawns and dirty cars to conserve water, many residents of the drought-stricken Southeast are now paying sharp rate increases from utilities scrambling to make up lost revenue.
Kelly Randle, director of the water utility in Gainesville, said he had to raise rates or cut costs because the system's debt is set to rise 12.5 percent and revenue is down 7.2 percent.
Atlanta's utility, struggling to pay for a $4 billion update of its sewer and water infrastructure, heard from angry homeowners this week protesting a plan to raise customer rates by 27.5 percent this year and about 12.5 percent each of the next three years."

So let me get this straight....we spent all last summer having water conservation tips and watering bans shoved down our throats as a result of changing weather patterns, overdevelopment, and poor planning so that we could pay more money for less usage? What a crock! Why bother? Geez, this is a great way to get people on a greener path. Oh, and I guess this will be yet another excuse (i.e. rise in gas prices) for businesses to share the burden of rising costs with consumers. I'm so disgusted...