Just a week after Arizona Attorney General Chris Mays confirmed its legality, Maricopa County has won a government-to-government agreement that could provide much-needed water to the Rio Verde Foothills.

For decades before that, the city of Scottsdale sold the water it brought to unincorporated communities in the north. close the faucet The agreement was unanimously approved at the City Council meeting on Tuesday night, January 1.

If executed, agreement Watch as Scottsdale sells collected water to the county, which then distributes it to residents of the Rio Verde Foothills at water stations. The county will pay Scottsdale up to 126 acre feet of water, or more than 41 million gallons per year, of water not available from Scottsdale’s existing supply. Instead, the city must incur costs from third-party sources before they are reimbursed by the county.

The contract lasts for two years with an option to add a third.

“I think it’s a great starting point, and I’m very happy it’s happening,” said Christy Jackman, a 13-year resident of the Rio Verde Foothills, of the proposed agreement. “We need water. Let’s get it done.”

More than 1,000 people in the Foothills have been without a reliable source of water for nearly two months. Scottsdale has cut off water to the community as part of its drought management plan, and David He has said for years Mayor Ortega must put the city’s residents first.

Foothills residents, on the other hand, flush toilets at most every day and use rainwater to shower and wash dishes. And residents have previously said the situation could be life-or-death as warmer weather approaches.

“In a very short time, people start running out of water,” said John Honewer, who has lived in the Foothills for 20 years, at a city council meeting. “Mayor Ortega, we are not asking for Santa Claus. We know there is no Santa Claus.

“Please, please, please, negotiate with the county as soon as possible.”

A short-term solution is in sight, but there is still a long way to go.

Foothills’ leading supervisor, Thomas Galvin, has already told Ortega: letter
This week, he said, “there are concerns and questions about the proposed agreement that need to be discussed, addressed and amended as part of the negotiation process in order for the proposal to move forward.”

His three biggest concerns are source, price and transportation.

Fields Moseley, a spokesperson for Maricopa County, said he considers some aspects of the agreement “for beginners.”

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors met with attorneys on Thursday. executive session Hear legal advice on both the proposed agreement and the Attorney General opinionbut did nothing.

Moseley said the deal was “extremely surprising” and he could not provide a timeline for when the county would approve it.

Even if the county agrees, the contract is contingent on Scottsdale finding a third party water source and securing 600 acre feet of water. And until Maricopa County agrees, “substantial work will not begin” to track down the source, Scottsdale spokeswoman Kelly Corsett said in an email.

Galvin reminded Ortega in a letter that private water company EPCOR had offered to be part of an interim solution. Ortega did not respond to a request for comment.

EPCOR is on the minutes of the county authority commission that supplies water to the Foothills as a long-term solution, but even if the commission approves it in June, it will take three years to get the infrastructure in place. There is a possibility.

An agreement that no one seems to be satisfied with

The Scottsdale City Council approved the deal, but they may have run out of patience.

“Our number one priority is our residents,” said Councilor Barry Graham. “We have been very generous with our role in providing water for this area.”

Alderman Solange Whitehead said she felt “blinded” by the county’s policies. decision Don’t go ahead with a domestic water improvement district plan that creates new tax districts to bear the cost.

“If there was a solution, we wouldn’t be here today,” she said.

Ortega reiterated earlier statements Tuesday night that the Rio Verde Foothills “are not Scottsdale’s stepchildren.”

Nevertheless, Garvin’s letter predicts that it will not be smooth sailing, but the city is willing to make a deal.

Under the agreement, the county would pay Scottsdale $1,000 a month plus $21.25 for every 1,000 gallons delivered to the Pima Road gas station. In three years, that total could exceed her $2.6 billion.

“Today’s proposed pricing is a significant increase compared to what we were paying before,” said Jackman, who organized community protests and held countless public meetings with other Cody Ream, a Foothills resident who spoke for residents, said.

Prior to January 1, Scottsdale was charging just $7 for 1,000 gallons of water.

“What on earth could justify a 313% increase in costs?” Riem asked the council.

The agreement also stipulates that water will only be supplied to residents who lived in the community before January 3. Anyone who moves in after that date is out of luck.

Jackman is worried that the deadline will cause the community’s approximately 100 vacant homes to go unsold. Prolonged vacancies can lead to squatters, vandalism and theft, Jackman said.

Ortega seemed unmoved.

“We’re talking about people affected by this now,” Ortega said after public comment. “Not future residents.”

Until January 1, private and commercial water carriers were able to supply water at the Pima Road Station and return it to the Foothills. It ends when the contract is concluded.

Under the proposed deal, only county employees and up to five county-licensed carriers would be allowed to use the station. That means about 70 people who carry their own water will have to pay for commercial hauls instead.

For the past eight years, Casey Rieder has paid about $80 a month to bring water to her home. Her monthly water bill could exceed her $1,000, she said, if she wasn’t allowed to carry water herself.

“This is unacceptable,” she said at the meeting. “It’s obscene and I can’t get over it. I can’t do it.”

Ortega said he didn’t know how future prices would have been “extrapolated into the stratosphere,” but didn’t say what the actual cost increase for residents might look like.

Jackman said the price is especially bad given that some are paying for water that they’ll never see in the Rio Verde foothills.

“It’s unfair that we have to supplement the best water conservation and strongest water cities in the state with water-sensitive communities,” she said after Tuesday night’s meeting. There will be water.”

A final clause in the agreement states that the county will seek to place a building moratorium on communities “to the extent permitted by law.” If we issue a new building permit, those homes will no longer receive water obtained through the contract.

The Rio Verde Foothills are a collection of what are known as ‘wildcat subdivisions’. Usually, a subdivision is he divided into six or more properties. In this case, the builder must ensure that the house has at least 100 years of water supply. However, a legal loophole allows multiple small groups of five houses or less to be built without needing water.

member of parliament To tell
This loophole is the cause of the situation at hand, and Arizona should work to close it, not just fight its symptoms.

“Everybody thinks wildcats should stop, but that’s another matter,” Jackman said. “If there’s water, there’s wildcats. Both need to be resolved.

“Please share the problem. Let the water run again.”