Chandler is making progress to hold the Roosevelt Water Conservation District (RWCD) accountable to deliver water benefits for Chandler residents.
The Arizona Supreme Court has granted our petition to review the case, and we will soon present our argument before the state’s highest court. This is a critical step to ensure RWCD honors its agreement with the city to provide water resources for the lands that have urbanized within the district.
Arizona Senator J.D. Mesnard and Representative Julie Willoughby also recently introduced a bill at the Arizona Legislature, House Bill 2125, to correct this injustice. The concept of the legislation is simple: an irrigation district, like RWCD, can’t walk away from legal agreements with taxpayers by stalling, or by simply not honoring the contract terms.
Litigation and legislation have become necessary steps because RWCD continues to charge Chandler residents $1.7 million annually in property taxes, while the district is failing to honor its agreement to provide Chandler with water for domestic uses.
Both of these measures intend to end RWCD’s one-sided practices of collecting taxes from property owners who receive no benefit in return.
For residents unfamiliar with RWCD, I’ll offer a little background. It originated more than 100 years ago for the purpose of irrigating farmlands encompassing 40,000 acres within Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa and southeastern Maricopa County. In fact, Dr. A.J. Chandler, the founder of Chandler, was among the people involved in its formation.
RWCD and Chandler signed a water services agreement in 2002 that ensures the district’s water rights continue to serve a beneficial purpose as these agricultural lands have urbanized in our city.
However, for nearly a decade, RWCD has been refusing to honor the agreement, which is valid until 2086, and has denied purchases for Chandler, even as we have upheld our obligations.
Water is a valuable public resource, and residents deserve a return for the property taxes paid. About 27,000 properties in the southeastern portion of Chandler are within RWCD’s taxing authority. We’re meeting with homeowners’ associations and residents in these areas to keep them informed.
We encourage Chandler residents to visit chandleraz.gov/RWCD to see if your property is within the RWCD and to learn more and share your comments with us.
Residents also can let their voice be heard by attending the RWCD Board of Directors meetings and contacting state legislators to encourage their support of legislation. Our efforts to litigate through the courts and pursue legislative changes are intended to hold RWCD accountable and end the blank check they enjoy today.