DISTRICT PETITION UPDATE 4/21/21: HEARING DATE

WHAT IS THE CHALLENGE?

HOW DO I JOIN THE DISTRICT?

WHAT IS THE CHALLENGE?

The City of Scottsdale supplies the majority of the water picked up by water haulers, both commercial and private, to the Rio Verde Foothills.

Scottsdale has advised residents of the Rio Verde Foothills since 2016 that it is prudent for Rio Verde Foothills to secure our own water source. Brian Biesemeyer, Director of Scottsdale Water, stated at the 2/2/21 Scottsdale Council Meeting at the end of his presentation:

"It's very likely that in the year 2022, we will be in a Tier one shortage and Scottsdale will experience a cutback to our Colorado River allocation by between 2 to 3,000-acre feet of water. We'll still have

sufficient water for our residents but as a consequence of this, we will stop allowing water hauling to anyone would who -- who is not in the city of Scottsdale. And Mayor, that concludes my presentation."

We strongly urge all residents of the Rio Verde Foothills to watch

SCOTTSDALE'S MEETING

and hear what Scottsdale says!

For a MAP of the Rio Verde Foothills area located East of N. Scottsdale, Arizona,

CLICK HERE!

WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?

HOW DO I JOIN THE DISTRICT?

WHAT IS THE CHALLENGE?

To form a Domestic Water Improvement District (District) so the District can secure its own source of water.

The petition to form a District was submitted with 176 parcels and received by Maricopa County on February 17th, 2021.

A hearing is scheduled for April 21, 2021 before the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to determine if the Board will approve or deny the District petition for formation.

The plan for the District is a two phase process.

Phase One is expected to take up to 3 years due to the length of time it takes to complete an Intergovernmental Agreement to secure a long term source of water that can be transported via the Central Arizona Project canals to the City of Scottsdale for processing. Initially District water can be retrieved by both commercial and individual water haulers for members at Scottsdale's fill station as is done today.

Phase Two includes purchasing land, building a District fill station and connecting to Scottsdale's waterline to retrieve our water.

HOW DO I JOIN THE DISTRICT?

Should the District be approved, we have created a registration for those community members who intend to be included in the next petition submission.

You can register HERE.

An additional 200 parcels are expected to join the District on a 2nd Petition effort due to feedback from the community in 2021.

Water needs will be determined from input from parcels in both the 1st and 2nd petition signings. Once the District chooses a water source and starts the Intergovernmental Agreements (IGA) to secure water, it may take up to 3 years to complete the process before we have our first drop of water. The District will have to obtain financing and legal advice to determine if any further petitions that require an additional water purchase could be considered during the 3 year IGA and financing process.

AFTER the District has completed the IGA and has water to serve, future petitions to join the District would be considered if the District has enough excess water for those petitioners. There is also the possibility of securing another source of water for a future group of petitioners IF there is water available for purchase. Those petitioners may bear the cost of possible higher interest rates and water costs.

With the severe drought, most water managers and Federal agencies are buying up water sources right now, so it is possible that there will not be water sources available for purchase in the coming years. Therefore, there is no guarantee that in the future additional parcels will be able to join the District.

For those residents on hauled water, we STRONGLY ADVISE you to verify you have a long term source of water that would be available to be hauled to you should you decide not to join the District.

(A water hauler is NOT a source of water.)

WHAT'S HAPPENING

HOW WE ARE HELPING

Our community was notified in 2016 that the City of Scottsdale cannot guarantee service in the future and has advised the area residents to obtain a separate water source. Various neighbors have volunteered their time in an effort to understand the water situation and research options for a solution. There has been growing support for a Domestic Water Improvement District (District) and we have been working toward a solution for our entire community. The input from residents at the 2018 Community Meeting and on social media clarified a few key points that the majority of our community:

Does not want the entire community included in the District.
Does not want water piped to homes.
Wanted only those that benefit from the District to pay for it.

Based on this, we created a Petition for a noncontiguous District and submitted it to Maricopa County on July 23, 2019 for the go ahead to move forward with collecting signatures from those interested. County needed and asked for an Opinion from the State’s General Attorney on a few items. Those answers were received in August, 2020 via Opinion #I20-011, which confirmed that a noncontiguous District encompassing a standpipe(s) and trucks to haul water to members would qualify as a “domestic water delivery system” per existing statute. This was extremely important for our community as we want the District created for only those who want to be in it and will be serving water via a standpipe(s) as it is done today. Based on this, we can finally move forward with a Petition for a District, which is the first step to secure a source of water for roughly 700 community members that rely on hauled water. The District will be created to only include those who sign the Petition. For those that do not want to join - you will not need to do a thing. Without your signature on the petition - your parcel(s) will NOT be in the District.

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HOW WE ARE HELPING

A small group of neighbors, are volunteering our time and energy because we realize that it is important to secure a long-term source of water for our community. In pursuit of this goal, we have created a Nonprofit Corporation, RVF Water Resources Inc., to assist with fundraising, financial accountability and transparency until the District is formed. Donations are not tax deductible and Directors do not get paid. We have also spent hundreds of hours researching and gathering information about our water situation. The solution is a District that would benefit those who petition for it and a simple way for others to keep their property out of the District. We feel strongly that we have acknowledged the different needs and opinions of our community members, have done our best to provide a solution that is the most affordable and focuses on those with a need/desire for a long term source of water for hauling. We are sharing this information with you, our community.

A VIRTUAL COMMUNITY MEETING was held on December 8, 2020.

After the Community Meeting the initial petition signatures were collected for those residents to sign that wanted their parcel(s) in the District. After all signatures were collected, maps were drawn up and the petition was accepted by Maricopa County on 2/17/2021.

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors

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GET INVOLVED

HOW WE ARE HELPING

GET INVOLVED

BE INFORMED!

This website has a lot of information including documented information from Scottsdale, County, State and others. If you still have questions, reach out to us via email at INFO@GotWaterRVF.com.

VOLUNTEER!

We need your help getting the word out to the rest of our community about the seriousness of the water situation with Scot

BE INFORMED!

This website has a lot of information including documented information from Scottsdale, County, State and others. If you still have questions, reach out to us via email at INFO@GotWaterRVF.com.

VOLUNTEER!

We need your help getting the word out to the rest of our community about the seriousness of the water situation with Scottsdale and the ability for residents to register with the 2nd Petition group in 2021.

We would greatly appreciate your help and contributions!

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