Water rates and rivers delves into the reasons behind the steep climb in water rates, especially for those living in Kansas City, Missouri, and asks was this inevitable and is it fair? The hike in prices is largely explained by a federal mandate requiring KCMO to upgrade its sewage system and to stop so much pollution from spilling into the Blue River watershed. But as an urban stream, is the Blue River destined to always be brown anyway? With the watershed split by the state line, to what extent is Kansas upstream causing problems for Missouri downstream?