Arizona Regulators At Odds Over Water Industry Reform

Arizona water regulators are divided on how much the government should help small water utilities threatened by a historic drought and other pressing challenges.

“The Arizona Corporation Commission regulates 256 water companies in the state, and 18 of them have faced emergencies in the last decade. Five of them have run into supply crises so far this year, including from arsenic and uranium contamination, and one event where taps went dry for nearly a week for about 28 residents,” Arizona Central reported.

The five commissioners met in May to consider measures to make utilities more stable during water crises. No decisions will be made until June.

Proposals include new rules to “allow faster rate hikes, interim managers to take over in emergencies and grants for needed repairs, among other ideas,” the report said.

The Water Utilities Association of Arizona has submitted proposals, as well, according to the group’s representative Paul Walker.

"We are not here to argue for higher returns for large companies," Walker said. "We are not here to ask for preapprovals for rates... We are here to address the problems that have led to 18 water companies to file emergency rate cases in the last 10 years."

Arizona officials are also debating policies surrounding the use of water from Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir. The lake is less than 40 percent full and is expected to continue dropping, according to WBUR.

State officials told the U.S. Congress last month during a hearing that “it is time to end the gentleman's agreement currently governing states' use of water from Lake Mead and instead put tougher restrictions into law,” Grand Canyon News reported.

Legislation sponsored by Arizona Republican Sens. Jeff Flake and John McCain would “toughen the restrictions and prohibit states from drawing water that other states have put in Lake Mead,” the report said, citing the bill’s supporters.

Thomas Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, told a Senate committee: "Arizona needs more certainty that the water is going to stay in Lake Mead if we're going to keep putting water there.”

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