Sonoita Valley Water Company (SVWC), a privately owned business with 85 customers, issued a Stage 2 water restriction order in May, requiring a 50-percent reduction in water consumption. Service can be disconnected if a customer uses water on lawns, shrubs, or trees— even with drip or misting systems—or to wash vehicles or fill pools, spas or fountains.
The company provides water service to many of Sonoita’s restaurants, which use the water to wash dishes and maintain cleanliness and cannot reduce their consumption without compromising health issues. These customers—The Ranch House, The Café, Overland Trout—and others, must pay a high fee for water use that surpasses their quota, which is based on 50 percent of usage prior to the restriction. As a consequence, many Sonoita restaurants now serve water to their patrons only if requested, and some use bottled water.
The Sonoita-Elgin Fire District is also a customer of SVWC. It uses well water to fight fires or wash the fire trucks but relies on their service for water used for cooking, eating, and washing activity in the station. In order to use its well water for these activities, the fire station would need to have it chlorinated and tested monthly, adding an expense that it cannot cover.
The Stage 2 water restriction order, which has been approved by the Arizona Corporation Commission, is considered a Curtailment Tariff. A water company can impose the restriction on its accounts when its total water storage well production becomes less than 80 percent of capacity for at least 48 consecutive hours, or if it can establish that a declining water table or an increased draw down could threaten pump operations. I asked company representatives to clarify the reason for the reduction, but so far they have declined to comment.
SVWC has had complaints from customers over other issues through the years. Their restaurant accounts were required to buy back-flow devices from them and to submit to periodic inspection by SVWC; the penalty for noncompliance would be loss of service. Customers say that these devices freeze and break in cold weather.
Residents have reported that during heavy rains, erosion exposes SVWC’s pipes along the side of the road because they are buried too near the surface.
In addition, EPA tests in the past have found contaminants such as lead, copper, arsenic, and radon in SVWC’s water. The company says these levels have been reduced to meet EPA minimums and are now safe for consumption.
Several Sonoita residents I spoke with stated that SWVC’s new restrictions and frequent rate increases have angered many of its clients. Some residential customers say they have been receiving monthly water bills of $300 or more, and one two-person household claimed they were billed $1,000 for a month’s service.
Is SWVC resorting to the restriction on water use because they are experiencing a declining water table but are unwilling or financially unable to dig deeper? Is their revenue declining because of a loss of accounts? The company has not responded with its answers. In the meantime, customers are stuck with their glass half full until further notice.