Phoenix, AZ—This week, the Board of Supervisors scheduled a public hearing to hear comments and consider a petition to establish the Rio Verde Foothills Domestic Water Improvement District (DWID).
“I look forward to August when we finally address this issue at the Board level. Thanks to the leadership of Chairwoman Lea Marquez Peterson and Commissioner Anna Tovar, this matter is now also being addressed at the Arizona Corporation Commission,” said Supervisor Thomas Galvin, District 2. “They opened the docket, at my request, to examine the issue as well. I think this is a great example of local government working in cooperation with a state agency to take care of our constituents.”
Rio Verde is an unincorporated community in Maricopa County that has seen a lot of growth, but property owners get water in different ways. Some residents have wells or private water companies, while hundreds are paying for water to be hauled from Scottsdale. Due to the drought, Scottsdale officials decided to stop supplying water haulers to Rio Verde at the end of 2022.
Maricopa County does not have water rights or regulate water. The issue before the Board of Supervisors has been the request for the DWID from one group of residents. Those with wells and other water sources have openly worried about adding this level of local government in the community.
On August 29, 2022, the Board of Supervisors will hear public comment about forming the Rio Verde Foothills DWID.
