Valle Verde Water Co. customers moved closer last week to having safe drinking water piped to their homes thanks to a decision by the Arizona Corporation Commission.

At the Tuesday, Aug. 21, hearing, the commission went beyond granting the request by its own staff to compel company representatives to testify at a hearing about violations and deficiencies identified by Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

After a presentation by Nogales Mayor Ignacio J. Barraza imploring that the commission name an interim manager to bring the embattled company around, the commissioners voted unanimously to "immediately authorize the appointment of a qualified manager."

"It is pretty unusual for the commission to order the appointment of a qualified manager from the bench," said Commissioner Kristin K. Mayes, who helped get the matter on the hearing agenda at the behest of the City of Nogales.

"We do this only in extreme cases where we believe the public health and safety is at risk," she said. "We believed that is the case with Valle Verde Water Co. The situation is completely unacceptable. It is obvious the captain abandoned this helm. This has been going on for far too long."

She said that Barraza's personal appearance before the commission as well as his reading of a letter to the ACC signed by 131 customers "was very powerful and compelling" and helped influence her colleagues Chairman Mike Gleason, and Commissioners William Mundell, Jeff Hatch-Miller and Gary Pierce to vote in favor of the so-called order to show cause and the appointment of the interim manager.

Contacted on Friday, Mayes said she was scheduled to meet with staffers to determine how close they were to identifying a manager. A hearing on the order to show cause has not been scheduled.

In a previous interview, she said ACC officials "have been surveying the landscape" to see what other companies would be in the position to take over Valle Verde. Among those is Algonquin Water Services, which bought Rio Rico Utilities in 2005.

Algonquin provides water for 6,300 connections, or 22,050 users in Rio Rico beginning in an area adjacent to Valle Verde Water Co.'s northernmost certificated service territory.

Mayes explained that if another company were to take over, all revenue from Valle Verde would be used strictly for maintenance and operation as well as remediation of any infrastructure deficiencies although Valle Verde owners will retain title to the system.

With an interim operator in place, the ACC can then request to tap into money from the Water Infrastructure and Finance Authority for such projects as providing a permanent connection to the City of Nogales system, officials said.

The company serves more than 800 connections or about 3,000 consumers in Valle Verde, Linda Vista, Chula Vista, and Firestone Gardens subdivisions, as well as an area south of Valle Verde near Apache Boulevard.

A newer part of the system has experienced no problems and provides service to customers in Coronado Estates and Pena Blanca Estates east of Valle Verde.

According to the commission's staff analysis, "Valle Verde's water system is unable to adequately serve all customers in its certificated service territory. The company has insufficient potable water supply due to shut down of three of its wells on the basis of contamination. As of May 2005, the company has not provided proper water testing to determine if they are providing potable water to its customers."

In January, the city agreed to provide water to the areas affected by the contaminated wells through a temporary interconnection, which in itself is questionable legally, officials said.

It connects the water system via two hydrants using a 2.5-inch fire hose strewn above ground and subject to leakage.