After several stressful weeks, nearly 500 families in the unincorporated Rio Verde Foothills community of Maricopa County are closer to having their water taps turned back on, thanks to emergency legislation sponsored by the three state lawmakers for the area and now being supported by the City of Scottsdale.
On Tuesday, Rep. Alex Kolodin confirmed that ongoing negotiations with city officials has led to an agreement on House Bill 2561 which he and fellow Legislative District 3 Rep. Joseph Chaplik introduced in late last month.
“I am very pleased that we appear to have reached a deal with the City of Scottsdale which will guarantee Rio Verde Foothills residents will not have to go through an Arizona summer without water,” Kolodin (R-Scottsdale) told Arizona Daily Independent.
Kolodin also expressed his gratitude to LD3’s Sen. John Kavanagh who introduced Senate Bill 1093, a copy of HB2561, in hopes to speed up passage of legislation to help the residents, many of whom are children.
The current situation started Jan. 1 when the commercial haulers who provided Rio Verde Foothills with potable water had their access to Scottsdale Water fill stations cut off, despite obtaining water from the city for years.
The move was forewarned several times over the last few years, but the unprecedented low water levels on the Colorado River is what city official cited for finally disallowing its municipal water to be transported outside of the city limits.
In response, residents turned to their legislators for help. Several solutions were put forth in recent weeks but a resolution was delayed while Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes drafted a legal opinion on whether Maricopa County had authority under state law to temporarily arrange to supply Scottsdale’s municipal water to county residents to preserve public health and sanitation.
That opinion was released Tuesday and clarifies that a county may intercede in such situations by contracting with a private company or via an intergovernmental agreement with a public agency with whom it shares a joint shared power.
Rep. David Cook, who requested the opinion from Mayes, said Tuesday he was grateful the opinion clarified a county board’s legal authority.
“I believe this could be immensely helpful in the effort to provide relief for Rio Verde residents who continue to struggle without a reliable point of access to water for their homes and families,” Cook said.
Just hours later, Kolodin announced that Scottsdale city officials have agreed in principle to support HB2561 with slight changes which would require Scottsdale Water to allow Maricopa County to work with commercial water haulers to transport city water to the effected Rio Verde Foothills residents.
The county will then bill the residents for the cost of the water.
In the meantime, HB2561 will bar Maricopa County from issuing new building permits in the community while all stakeholders work on a long term solution to the water supply issue. The legislation will be repealed effective Dec. 31, 2025.
Under state law, an emergency measure is defined as one which is “necessary to preserve the public peace, health or safety and is operative immediately as provided by law.” It becomes effective upon signing by the governor if passed with at least two-thirds of the votes in the House and the Senate.
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