WEST VALLEY, AZ — Liberty Utilities customers have been left anxious for a second summer in a row.
This month, the water provider announced they were moving to Stage Two of what is known as a water curtailment tariff. The move comes less than a month after ABC15 reported on changes to that tariff, which is basically a curtailment plan.
One of the biggest changes, in Stage Three conserving water would no longer be voluntary.
"Now everything is mandatory in Stage Three, that you’re not watering outside except livestock," Liberty customer John Connolly told ABC15 back in June.
Liberty services various communities throughout the West Valley, but we know customers in Litchfield Park and Goodyear north of I-10 received emails or calls that told them they were in Stage Two. Many of those same customers were plagued with water pressure issues last summer. The emails from Liberty Utilities asked customers to conserve.
"I am so happy to conserve, you know, cut back a little bit on water usage as much as possible," said Liberty customer Linda Aubuchon. "We have done that. But two days a week in this heat, that's kind of asking a lot."
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The City of Goodyear posted to its website that the change was due to Liberty having delays with a new well and one that was not working. Their webpage said the City is providing the company with extra water.
ABC15 did confirm that an interconnect between the City and Liberty had been turned on.
Liberty customers are still left worried about losing plants and that Stage Three could be around the corner.
"Yeah, I mean, to so abruptly, right away they're putting us in Stage Two?" said Aubuchon. "And then, you know, it does it scares me."
But the Mayor of Litchfield Park Thomas Schoaf posted a letter online that said, "There are other more drastic measures such as Stage 3, however those are unlikely to be reached short of a worst-case scenario."
Arizona Corporation Commissioner Anna Tovar opened an investigation into Liberty last summer after ABC15's reporting regarding pressure problems.
"There are more questions out there than there is answers from the company," Commissioner Tovar told ABC15 Sept. of 2023.
Within the last few days, she sent a letter to the company requesting an explanation for the move to Stage Two.
Liberty, who recently received approval from the ACC to expand their future service area, told ABC15 that customers are their priority. They said the voluntary conservation will help protect the water supply during increased demand.
ABC15 asked customers what Liberty could do to help ease their concerns.
"Supply us with the proper amount of water," said Aubuchon.
Liberty Utilities hosted a community meeting on Tuesday in the Pebblecreek neighborhood in Goodyear.
They tell ABC15 that during hot summer months, it is harder for their reservoirs to replenish during high times of demand. That is why the company is moving to Stage 2 conservation efforts.
“I wanted to find out what they’re doing to increase their capacity. This conservation information is old hat. We’ve been doing this for years,” said Michael Delleo, a Pebblecreek resident who attended the meeting on Tuesday.
About one week ago, the company started asking customers to voluntarily conserve water as part of the Stage 2 step of a water curtailment tariff.
Liberty Utilities President for Arizona and Texas Moses Thompson telling ABC15 reservoirs are at 80 percent or below where the company wants it to be.
“You’re looking supply versus demand, right? And with high irrigation usage as it gets hotter and everything of the sort, we’re constantly monitoring the reservoirs,” said Thompson.
“They’re asking us to conserve water, but I see more and more development of new homes and new apartment buildings going in. And my question when I see that is do we have enough water?” said Delleo.
The West Valley is one of the fastest-growing areas in the country right now. New developments will always need a water source.
Thompson says this next month, Liberty is installing a new well that will deliver an additional one million gallons of water per day to the system. A second new well, running next year, will add another million gallons of water a day.
“Not only is the growth happening, but at the same time, the company is investing in the infrastructure and adding wells,” said Thompson.
Residents, however, remain skeptical about the company’s ability to meet future demands.
“How can we assume that we’re going to have 100 years of water? Where is that supply coming from? And the answer was, yes, we have it, and that was it. To me, no, that wasn’t satisfactory,” said Maureen McCann, a Pebblecreek resident.
Thompson says Stage 3 conservation, which would require mandatory water conservation, is not likely to be reached.
