Scores of complaints lead mayor to ax water surcharge.(Holiday)

Byline: Jennifer W. Sanchez jsanchez@abqtrib.com / 823-3610

Many city of Albuquerque water customers won't have to pay surcharges they've been billed by the city.

After receiving thousands of complaints from people about their high water bills, the Chavez administration decided to waive the water-conservation surcharges for 30,000 customers whose water usage was estimated for billing. Some customers had reported their bills had more than doubled in June.

The billing relief will also apply to another 2,000 customers whose meters are broken.

"It is fundamentally unfair and unsound for a water conservation surcharge to be based on …