Arizona Attorney Kris Mayes issued an opinion Tuesday and said the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has the authority to supply water temporarily to residents of Rio Verde Foothills.

“A county may do so through an intergovernmental agreement with a public agency with whom it shares a joint shared power or by contracting with a private company,” the opinion stated.

The authority is intended “to preserve public health and sanitation.”

Rep. David Cook, R-Globe, had asked Mayes for the opinion.

Last year, county supervisors rejected allowing Rio Verde property owners to tax themselves to pay for water. Scottsdale stopped supplying water to the area on Jan. 1.

Specifically, Cook asked the attorney general: “Can a county board of supervisors enter into a short-term agreement on an emergency basis with a government entity or private company to supply water to county residents who lost their previous water source and are awaiting the construction of a new permanent water system?”

The attorney general concluded that when county residents lose access to their previous water source, and face a delay before regular service can be resumed, “counties have the power to preserve public health and sanitation by contracting with a utility or another government entity to provide water on an emergency basis.”

We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.