CHANDLER, AZ — The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that a water agreement between the city of Chandler and the Roosevelt Water Conservation District is valid and enforceable.
The dispute goes back to 2002, when Chandler and the Roosevelt Water Conservation District signed an agreement for RWCD to sell and deliver water to the city through 2086.
Within the last few years, Chandler says RWCD stopped honoring it. RWCD said the agreement had expired. That disagreement went all the way to the Arizona Supreme Court.
Now the court has ruled the agreement is valid and must be honored.
The stakes are significant. The city says nearly 27,000 households within RWCD’s boundaries have been paying district property taxes for years without receiving the water benefits those taxes are meant to cover.
Neighbors say they had no idea.
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“I have never heard about this at all. I have heard nothing, and since you and I spoke, Molly, we have also called one of my wife’s friends, who also lives in Chandler; she doesn’t know anything about it either,” said Gunnar Martinson, a Chandler resident of 11 years.
The city told me it has provided water services throughout the litigation, thanks to its diverse water resources, but has heard from hundreds of residents frustrated about being taxed by RWCD.
“Water is a big thing out here, and if we are supposed to be getting water and we are paying for water, that’s not good,” Martinson said.
Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke shared this statement:
“Nearly 27,000 Chandler families have paid Roosevelt Water Conservation District property taxes for years without water benefits. That ends with this ruling. Water is a critical public resource, and this ruling restores a key component of Chandler’s 100‑year assured water supply through an agreement with RWCD that contains an objective, transparent formula that respects taxpayers. We will move quickly to implement this decision and are ready to work with RWCD so Chandler residents receive the water benefits they’ve been funding for years.”
Chandler reporter Molly Hudson reached out to the Roosevelt Water Conservation District for a comment on this ruling, but did not hear back.
