One water bill killed, another has life

May 30—In Franz Kafka's 1925 novel "The Trial," Josef K. spends years sorting through bureaucracy in an attempt to find justice. "It's only very rare," K. is told, "that you see any progress in these proceedings at all."

The people of Rio Verde Foothills can relate.

In a Kafkaesque scenario that has been repeated several times over the last half year, Rio Verde Foothills residents' joy over a potential water source was bureaucratically squashed.

First, in late 2022, a "treat and transport" arrangement that would continue providing Scottsdale water to them mysteriously fizzled.

In February, Rio Verde Foothills residents who had been receiving Scottsdale water for years erupted in joy when Scottsdale City Council approved an "intergovernmental agreement" to use Maricopa County as an intermediary for water to RVF — but cheers turned to groans when the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors quickly and soundly rejected Scottsdale's plan.

The issue rose to the state level, with a bill that would force Scottsdale to resume providing water to Rio Verde Foothills passing the Arizona House and Senate May 16. All that was needed was Gov. Katie Hobbs' signature — instead, she vetoed it.

This was music to the ears of Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega and city council members, who wrote a letter to the governor asking her to veto HB 2441.

In a veto-explaining May 19 letter that was not released until May 22, Hobbs said the bill would take too long to implement.

But, as Josef K. kept finding avenues to pursue, Hobbs gave hope to residents of the unincorporated area just outside Scottsdale.

In a letter to the Legislature, Hobbs wrote, "I call upon you to take action and send HB 2561 to my desk — a bipartisan solution that was voted out of the House with supermajority support, an emergency clause for immediate effect and language addressing the long-term issue of wildcat development."

HB 2561 sponsor Rep. Alexander Kolodin, R-Scottsdale, told the Progress he has been working behind the scenes to get approval from all parties.

"I worked closely with Scottsdale," Kolodin said, "and they are supportive" of HB 2561.

Not so fast, countered Ortega.

The mayor said Kolodin has not contacted him.

And Ortega does not share the Arizona governor's enthusiasm for Kolodin's bill.

"HB 2561 is flawed," Ortega said.

Though Hobbs pointed out Kolodin's bill addresses "wildcat" developers who build multiple homes on one lot, Ortega complained HB 2561 does not go far enough: "There should be severe penalties for illegal wildcat lot-split violations such as a fine of $50,000 per lot violation."

Though HB 2561 does not require Scottsdale's approval, several City Council members told the Progress they are strongly behind it.

"HB 2561 has my full support," Councilwoman Solange Whitehead said. "For the first time, RVF residents will have a standpipe district that secures water, provides oversight on water rates — and can enter into an agreement with Scottsdale to treat water."

Councilman Barry Graham said he studied the wording of Kolodin's bill and discussed it with the city's staff before forming a positive opinion.

"The city can live with it, and it's much better than some other attempted legislative remedies that we've seen," Graham said.

Councilwoman Tammy Caputi, after "applauding" the veto of HB 2441, gives the thumbs-up to Kolodin's bill.

She called the bill — particularly the creation of a standpipe district — "a good compromise."

"It's not perfect," Caputi added, "but it has bipartisan support in the Legislature, provides what Scottsdale needs and gets water to the residents of Rio Verde immediately."

Councilwoman Betty Janik also noted the two-party support for Kolodin's bill.

Janik said she supported the intergovernmental agreement requirement and capping service to 750 Rio Verde Foothills residents.

But she echoed Ortega's concerns about "future development in the Rio Verde area with its limited water supply. This is what created the problem in the first place."

RVF fears

Kolodin's bill is hardly unanimously embraced by Rio Verde Foothills residents.

Community organizers Christy Jackman, Cody Reim and several others said they much preferred HB 2441 over Kolodin's standpipe district idea, which they fear is too much like a domestic water improvement district (DWID).

The county supervisors rejected a DWID proposal for Rio Verde Foothills last summer, saying the majority of residents disliked it for having too much power.

Kolodin has repeatedly used the phrase "It's not a DWID" in discussions with Rio Verde Foothills residents. Some are not buying what he is selling.

"This is what we fought against for two years — and now they're going to try to force it on us," Jackman said.

Kolodin's bill will not be considered this week, as legislators are on break until June 12.

Meanwhile, EPCOR awaits a ruling by the Arizona Corporation Commission on its request to provide water to Rio Verde Foothills.

But even if that is approved, the private utility company estimates it will take up to three years to build necessary infrastructure.

Several of the unincorporated county residents have asked Kolodin how fast his bill could get them water.

If the Arizona Senate sends it to Hobbs and she signs it, "Best case scenario (RVF residents) get water a month after the ink is dry," Kolodin said.

As Hobbs mentioned in her letter explaining her veto of HB 2441, the Arizona House passed Kolodin's HB 2561 by a "supermajority" vote May 10, giving it emergency status.

The Arizona Senate vote on HB 2561 is out of Kolodin's hands. The Senate may choose to vote on a "mirror bill" from Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Foothills, who has worked closely with Kolodin.

Whether his bill or Kavanagh's passes, Kolodin was confident Hobbs would not reject it.

"This bill will get her signature," he vowed.

Ultimately, if HB 2561 becomes law, Scottsdale would be doing a very close version of "treat and transport" — taking raw water provided by a third party, treating it to drinking water standards and sending it through to RVF via the same standpipe in northeast Scottsdale that was previously used.

The difference is that, as Scottsdale demanded, there would be a middle agency responsible for billing and payments.

In this case, it would be a standpipe district represented by five appointed board members.

Though his bill calls for an intergovernmental agreement, as Scottsdale desires, it also contains language that Scottsdale would be "required" to participate in water flow to RVF.

"I get the sense from Scottsdale that everybody who's touched this problem is ready for it to be over," Kolodin said.

Though EPCOR has made it clear it has water to service Rio Verde Foothills, Kolodin's bill does not specify that the private utility will be involved.

"The legislation leaves that up to the parties," Kolodin said. "There's only one company I'm aware of that has provided serious interest, which is EPCOR. Hypothetically, it would be them — but it's up to the parties."

One portion that Kolodin felt important to stress: "This bill doesn't require the use of any Scottsdale water," he said.

"Hey, I live in Scottsdale — I get why they want to circle the wagons on the water."

As he has done before, Kolodin was critical of past actions by the city and county, which he said led to a Rio Verde Foothills water stalemate.

"Everybody could have solved this problem — Scottsdale, Maricopa County, private entities ... but nobody did," he said. "We're the Legislature, so ultimately the buck stops with us."

The original version of Kolodin's HB 2561 was quite similar to Rep. Gail Griffin's HB 2441, in that it would have forced Scottsdale to resume providing water to RVF — with few other provisions.

After his first try was rejected two months ago, Kolodin drastically amended HB 2561, adding the standpipe district and language about restricting "wildcat development."

"We worked on this thing with the city of Scottsdale. We want to be fair to all parties. We want to make sure we're honoring Scottsdale's requests — at least, the reasonable ones," Kolodin said.

Noting her family has been "carrying in buckets of rainwater to flush our toilets once per day and showering/washing clothes in friends' homes in other cities," one Rio Verde Foothills resident expressed support for Kolodin's bill.

"It is not pretty," Leigh Harris said. "But it will get us the critical source of interim water we suffering 500-plus families must have, immediately."