PHOENIX (CN) — Cut off for months from the city of Scottsdale's water taps, citizens of Rio Verde Foothills should soon see water again.
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs ended the political squall by signing a bill that supporters hope will bring water back to the people within 30 days. And Scottsdale has already indicated its support for the plan.
"This bipartisan bill shows that when we put politics aside, we can come together to solve problems for everyday Arizonans," Hobbs said in a press release Monday afternoon, just hours after residents and legislators organized outside the state Capitol to demand action. "While it isn't perfect, I'm glad we were able to deliver relief for the residents of Rio Verde Foothills."
The unincorporated community historically received water from Scottsdale through a standpipe, hauling it in trucks to roughly 500 homes in the area. That changed on January 1 when Scottsdale turned off the tap so it could conserve water for its own citizens. The move pushed Foothills residents deep into conservation mode, and water haulers have been driving farther than ever before to bring water to the parched community.
“It’s insane,” said resident and water hauler John Hornewer. “Right now we have to drive an additional hour minimum each way” to find water to haul back to the community. Before, the drive to and from Scottsdale’s standpipe took haulers only 20 minutes.
“I used to do eight or nine trucks in a day,” he said. “Now I can do two.”
As supply goes down and price goes up, the more than 1,000 people living in the Foothills are doing their part, using rainwater from the winter to wash dishes and flush toilets, and driving to other towns to shower and stock fresh drinking water.
Multiple attempts to solve the issue have failed. Because Rio Verde Foothills is on Maricopa County land, not Scottsdale’s, Mayor David Ortega blamed county supervisors for not providing. Maricopa countered that Scottsdale should have never shut off the taps. With blame flying to and from either side, the parties failed to negotiate an agreement that would have required the city to sell water to the county, which would then distribute it to the people from Scottsdale’s standpipe.
Some residents were happy the deal didn’t go through, as it would have raised prices and prohibited private hauling, allowing only a few certified county officials to deliver the water. They prefer a deal between Scottsdale and EPCOR, a private water company that has offered to be the solution since day one. Among four options the company pitched to the Arizona Corporation Commission in April were plans to use Scottsdale’s existing standpipe and water systems or to build a new standpipe for the community.
A decision among these will likely be made by August, but even if approved, it could take up to three years before water starts flowing.
Meanwhile, Arizona lawmakers have tried to pass bills requiring a city to provide water to an unincorporated community of fewer than 750 homes for up to three years if it did so before January 1. Hobbs vetoed one version of the bill in May, instead urging lawmakers to vote on Representative Alexander Kolodin’s HB2561 because it addressed wildcat developments — a legal loophole that allowed Rio Verde Foothills and similar communities to be built in groups of less than six homes, ducking the requirement of an assured water supply.
But the bill no longer contained any language about wildcat subdivisions by the time it made it to Hobbs' desk early Monday morning. Instead, it was combined with SB1432, sponsored by state Senator Justine Wadsack, a Republican from Tucson. That bill doesn’t address subdivisions of less than six homes, which casted doubts as to whether Hobbs would sign it.
The bill, which goes into effect immediately thanks to an emergency clause, calls for the creation of a standpipe district led by a board of five Rio Verde Foothills residents that will negotiate an intergovernmental agreement with Scottsdale. Board members are to be appointed within 14 days. The governor, the speaker of the House, the Senate president, the commissioner of the Arizona Real Estate Department and the director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources will each appoint one person.
Split opinions on the proposed creation of a domestic water improvement district, which may have worked similarly to the standpipe district now to be created, divided the community before the county shot it down in September. Now Christy Jackman, a 13-year resident who’s served as a voice for the community throughout the crisis, says it’s imperative not to let those politics soil this new system. While she doesn’t know if residents have any power over who is appointed, she hopes it’s people who are “down the middle” on past conflicts and can move forward without issue.
“My hope and my prayer is that the governor and all the people that are going to do the appointments will have completely noncontroversial people that will just get it done and move out.”
Given Hobbs' immediate signature, Hornewer said he hopes the taps will turn back on in a month, and the people can’t wait much longer.
“A couple of my customers slaughtered their cows because they couldn’t afford the water bill,” Hornewer said. “It’s an unfortunate situation but right now we have hope.”
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