As the residents of the unincorporated Rio Verde Foothills (RVF) area have gone over five months without steady access to water, House Bill (HB) 2441 could provide a solution and arrived at Governor Katie Hobbs’s (D) desk Tuesday and is awaiting a final decision.
This bill, sponsored by State Representative Gail Griffin (R-Hereford), is an emergency measure that states if a city provides water service within a county with a population greater than 1.5 million that city must execute an agreement with “one or more third parties for at least three years, treat and transport water to a standpipe and allow use of the standpipe for water to be hauled to residences that are outside the city’s or town’s water service area[.]”
To provide this service, the unincorporated area being served must have a population of 750 people, and those people must be allowed to self-haul water.
Furthermore, the city in question cannot be exempt from this responsibility because of its own drought management plan. However, if the city fulfills its obligations, it is exempt from liabilities. The law would automatically repeal in January 2026. HB 2441 passed through the House with slight bipartisan support.
Essentially, this bill would force the City of Scottsdale, which previously allowed RVF residents to haul water from the city’s supply but cut them off in January, to restart providing water to the community until a permanent solution can be established. Water supply company EPCOR expressed interest in providing water to RVF, but it could be years before anything is ready.
The Arizona Sun Times contacted Hobbs’s office for an update on the bill but did not hear back.
State Representative Alexander Kolodin (R-Scottsdale), who has worked to find immediate solutions for the people of RVF, called on Hobbs to sign the bill.
“HB 2441 represents months of legislative war. We kept all 60 members of the House of Representatives late so that we could get it on Katie Hobbs’s desk as quickly as possible,” Kolodin said. “I urge you. Please sign this bill. It is a direct, simple approach that will get the residents of Rio Verde Foothills water. It will prevent humans from suffering. It will prevent animals from suffering.”
Additionally, Kolodin shared that some residents pay upwards of $1,500 a month to import water through other providers.
Please – sign the Rio Verde Foothills bill! https://t.co/uI11A2XrcB
— Rep. Alexander Kolodin (@realAlexKolodin) May 19, 2023
However, not everyone is on board with this solution, namely the City of Scottsdale. On Wednesday, Mayor David Ortega and city council members sent Hobbs a letter Tuesday asking her to veto the bill. According to Scottsdale, it cut off RVF from city water to comply with its own Drought Management Plan, which the law would potentially force it to break.
Under the bill, Scottsdale could collect $20 from water haulers for every 1,000 gallons to cover treatment costs. Yet, Scottsdale said this might not cover the costs it may incur, and the bill provides no promise of helping the city care for residents outside of its limits, which is not its responsibility in the first place.
From the start, Scottsdale has emphasized that it never intended to be the permanent water provider for the RVF community. As an unincorporated area, RVF falls under the authority of Maricopa County. Scottsdale said it had warned the county and community members that the shut-off was coming for years before it happened. Scottsdale attempted to form an intergovernmental agreement with the county to provide water to the area, but Maricopa rejected that plan.
Scottsdale said this bill does not address the root cause of this situation, wildcat subdivisions. These are loopholes in Arizona’s law, which allow landowners to sell land without guaranteeing access to water.
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Neil Jones is a reporter for The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Neil on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Katie Hobbs” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0. Background Photo “Maricopa County Courthouse” by Visitor7. CC BY-SA 3.0.
