Hello and welcome to the neighborhood!

 

Our irrigation distribution system was built between 1955-1957. In 2018 this neighborhood, Rancho Ventura, formed a new tax district, Rancho Ventura Irrigation Water Delivery District #65, to address the increasing failure, leaks, maintenance and repair issues we, as a neighborhood, are responsible for. In this way we will continue to receive irrigation water from Salt River Project (SRP) from the canal systems and through our underground gravity fed system.

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The District is managed by three volunteer trustees elected from the neighborhood every two years. Taxes are levied through your property taxes and amount to roughly $70-75 per year depending upon the size of your property. We have approximately 3 - 4 county required public meetings each year to approve the annual budget, discuss and report on repairs and generally meet the requirements of Arizona State Tax District laws. The previous agendas and all meeting minutes are available on this website.

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Each property in our neighborhood has a flood water valve to receive water through our water system.  Rancho Ventura Irrigation Water Delivery District (RVIWDD) is responsible for maintaining and repairing the system up to and including the valve in your yard. This flood valve cannot be removed from the property without permission from the district.

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The homeowner has the option to utilize the irrigation water or not. If you choose not to take any water and sprinkle your property, you are still utilizing canal water (treated with chlorine) through the City of Phoenix - it just costs you approximately $1,500-$1,800/year depending on your landscape as opposed to $100 to $125 through the flood system. Regardless of your decision, we ask that each property owner sign up for our mailing list to receive notices of the public meetings, alley closures due to repairs or informing us of a means of contacting you should we need to complete repairs in your yard. 

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If using irrigation water the homeowner is responsible for the following items:

• Ensuring that no water exits the property during or after water delivery.

• Establishing an account with SRP - there is no actual cost for the water because your land has water rights but SRP charges approximately $100-125/year (again, depending upon the size of your property) to maintain the canal and dam systems throughout the metroplex and state - SRP's phone number is 602/236.3333. They also have a phone app to keep track of scheduling as a convenience.

• There are two options to receive irrigation water:  Utilizing the neighborhood commercial irrigation service (professional irrigator) to operate the system for you (a managed run) or choosing to irrigate your property directly (self irrigation).

• The majority of our property owners use the managed irrigation run.

  • New Generations manages irrigation water delivery for RVIWDD. It is owned and managed by Dan Vidauretta and he can be reached at 602/430.8589. New Generations charges around $70-$75 per quarter (depending upon the size of your property). 

• Self irrigators must learn how to open/close the main and/or alley standpipes and open their valve according to the schedule established by SRP. The board or your neighbors that self irrigate can assist you in learning how to do this.

  • The schedule is over a 24 hour period and if the time is missed there are no options available until the next irrigation run for the entire system. Not taking water generally means the system floods the alley or streets (which is not legal in Arizona), increases pressure on the 60 year old pipe system which often cause breaks requiring repairs. You are required to take the water you have scheduled or cancel it before the run is posted - even if it's at 3am. Once scheduled the run cannot be canceled.

  • We encourage use of the commercial irrigator for these reasons.

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• Per Arizona Revised Statute 45-112 (edited for length but available at www.azleg.gov):

  • A person is guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor who:​

    • Kno​wingly opens/closes/changes or interferes with a head gate;

    • Without authority uses water to which another is entitled;

    • Knowingly wastes water to the detriment of another.

 

The district is dedicated to repairing and maintaining the system for use of the neighborhood. If any portion of the system requires attention please contact the board through the link on the Home Page and please keep our email address in your contact list - RVIWDD@gmail.com