Legislation

House Bill (HB) 2277 for Water Providers; Community System Plans
47^th Legislature, 1^st Regular Session (2005)

SUMMARY

• Requires all community water systems to submit a Water System Plan that includes three elements:

• Water Supply Plan
• Drought Preparedness Plan
• Water Conservation Plan

• Requires all community water systems to submit an annual report of water withdrawals, diversions and deliveries.

HB2277 contains the following specific provisions:

Definition of Water System

• Defines community water system as a public water system that serves at least 15 service connections used by year-round residents or that regularly serves at least 25 year-round residents.  A public water system is one that provides water for human consumption (A.R.S. 49-325).
   
• Defines large community water system as a community water system that serves water to more than 1,850 persons.
   
• Defines small community water system as a community water system that does not qualify as a large community water system.
   

Water Plan

• Requires all community water systems to submit:
   
  • A water supply plan that describes their sources of water, service area, transmission system facilities, monthly system production data, historic demand for the past five years and projected demands for the next five, 10 and 20 years.

   

  • A drought preparedness plan that includes drought and emergency response strategies, a plan of action to respond to water shortage conditions and provisions to inform and educate the public.

   

  • A water conservation plan that may include measures to control lost or unaccounted for water, consideration of water rate structures that encourage efficient use of water  (as set by the community water system’s governing body and subject to approval by the Arizona Corporation Commission) and information and education on conserving water.
     
• Clarifies that the requirement for a water supply plan only includes community water systems and not water used for hard rock mining or metallurgical processes.
   
• Requires large community water systems to submit plans to the Director of ADWR by January 1, 2007 and small community water systems by January 1, 2008.  Small community water systems (whether filing alone or jointly) may be given an extension by the Director if a request is submitted at least 90 days prior to the deadline.
   
• Exempts a small municipal provider from the requirement to submit a water conservation plan if the provider does the following:
   
  • Petitions the Director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) before January 1, 2007.

   

  • Shows that under reasonable growth projections they will be regulated as a large municipal water provider by January 1, 2012.
     
• Authorizes two or more water providers serving the same area to coordinate their efforts and submit a joint plan.  The deadline for submitting a joint plan is the same as for small community water systems.
   
• Requires updates to the plans every five years.  The Director is required to review the plans to determine if they are in compliance.
   
• Provides for disclosure of non-compliance to the governing body in the service area if a water provider does not comply within sixty days of a written notice from the Director regarding failure to submit a water conservation plan.
   
• Exempts a water system from submitting a water supply plan if the system has been designated as having an Assured Water Supply.  The system still must submit a drought preparedness plan and a water conservation plan.
   
• States that water systems do not have to resubmit any information required by this legislation if it is already on file with ADWR.
   
• Requires the Director to prepare, and make available, forms for small water systems to complete and submit as their water plan.  The Director must also develop a guidance document to assist community water systems in preparing a water system plan.
   

Records and Annual Report of Water Use

• Requires an annual report of water use from each water provider that includes information, if known, regarding sources of water, quantity of water pumped or diverted, well registration numbers, how the water was used, number of customers served and information on storage facilities.  For large community water systems the report must also include a map of the service area and distribution system.
   
• Exempts community water systems located inside Active Management Areas from duplicate reporting requirements.
   
• Requires the Director to prepare blank forms and distribute them on a timely schedule and cooperate with the Arizona Corporation Commission and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to facilitate the reporting of similar or identical information

 

 For the full version of HB 2277:

Senate Engrossed Version HTML version

Senate Engrossed Version PDF version