Received a call at my office the other day from a Sand Canyon resident who receives water through the Quail Valley Water District (QVWD). In her latest billing statement was a letter from J.R. Smeed, President of the QVWD, informing her and all district customers that the each needed to install a 2,600 gallon water tank, at their own expense, on their respective properties by this fall because the water district would be doing repair and renovation of the water lines that would affect continuous flow of water provided for up to a week at a time. The letter states each resident is under a contractual obligation to do this. It also states the cost of such a tank is $978 plus installation and other parts. The letter further states that the QVWD will assist with financing to owners who cannot afford this expense.

I have not seen the contract that lays out the contractual obligation for a resident who receives water from a water district to spend more than $1000 installing a tank that will provide a temporary storage area for water while the district they contract with makes repairs and upgrades. This seems unreasonable and extremely costly to those residents who thus far have never had a need for such a tank.

Does anyone out there have a copy of this alleged contract that states the property owner must purchase and install a tank to supplement the water district's storage capacity during repairs? I'd be curious to see it and check if it's above-board. If you are a resident affected by this and have a copy of your QVWD contract imposing such an obligation, I'd love to see it. Please fax me a copy at 823-9492 with your contact information if you have your contract. I already have a copy of the letter.

No, this is not about the arsenic problem, just the water tank requirement. I'm curious whether QVWD can actually do this and would like to help those persons affected by this figure out their rights and obligations.