By Joanna Dodder Nellans
The Daily Courier
Arizona House Speaker Andy Tobin has introduced legislation that would help rural areas pay for water projects to supply future growth.
Tobin’s House Bill 2338 closely mirrors the collaborative recommendations of the bipartisan Arizona Water Resources Development Commission that Tobin created three years ago.
“This is developed after two years of study bringing all the water groups together,” said Tobin, a Republican from Paulden. “It’s likely the most comprehensive water legislation since the (1980) Groundwater Act.”
The bill allows local governments and private entities to create public “regional water augmentation authorities” that would help augment local water supplies and infrastructure by allowing members to pool their efforts.
