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Building the Capacity of Drinking Water Systems

Arizona

State Agencies Supporting Water System Partnerships

Arizona Corporation Commission

Arizona Department of Environmental Quality

Arizona Water Infrastructure Finance Authority 

State Policies and Programs Regarding Water System Partnerships


DWSRF PRIORITIZATION OF CONSOLIDATION PROJECTS

The Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona prioritizes project applications that will include consolidation or regionalization. The application for funding asks whether the project physically consolidates two or more PWSs into one PWS; if the project is the extension of service to areas currently not served by a PWS; or if the project consolidates the operations, management, and/or ownership of two or more PWSs.

CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE FOR SMALL WATER SYSTEMS

The Arizona Corporation Commission formed a Small Water Systems Ombudsman Office to assist small water utilities in preparing and filing rate and financing applications and other compliance filings to help support long-term system sustainability.

OPERATOR SHARING

Title 18-5-104 of the Arizona Administrative Code allows very small water systems to have remote operators, as long as the remote operator resides no more than 200 miles by ground travel from the water system and they visit either weekly or monthly, based on the size and type of the system.

STATE ORDERED CONSOLIDATION OR RESTRUCTURING

The Arizona Corporation Commission has the regulatory power to order a public service corporation to make additions, improvements, or changes to an existing plant and to construct new structures, including interconnections to other systems. If any ordered changes require joint action by two or more public service corporations, the corporations must share the cost of those changes (after notice from the commission). If the corporations cannot agree upon an apportionment of the costs, the commission can order the corporations to pay at a proportion determined by the commission (Arizona Revised Statute 40-331).

Helpful Links to State Resources