By Sasha Hupka | Arizona Republic
A protest about Rio Verde Foothills’ water woes devolved into confusion Wednesday morning as the demonstrators split on their preferred interim legislative solution.
Those gathered before the Arizona Capitol said they believe a long-term solution to the community’s ongoing water supply issues should come from private utility Epcor.
They also said they are also in desperate need of an immediate fix. But exactly what form that short-term solution should take became a point of contention.
The protest was initially advertised by organizers as a call for executive action by Gov. Katie Hobbs to get the community water, possibly via an emergency declaration. It quickly turned into infighting over two proposals from Republican lawmakers.
“We had a disagreement on internal communications,” said Rio Verde Foothills resident Cody Reim, who helped organize the protest. “That looks bad — when a community in distress is sitting here going, ‘We need help,’ and then somebody makes a bill, and we go, ‘Oh, we don’t like that. We don’t want it.'”
