SENATE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT BILL BY CHAIRPERSON WILHELM)

A BILL FOR

An Act modifying water service requirements for rural water providers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

   Section 1.  Section 357A.2, subsections 3 and 4, Code 2011, are amended to read as follows:
   3.
  a.  Water services, other than water services provided as of April 1, 1987, shall not be provided within two miles of the limits of a city by a rural water district incorporated under this chapter or chapter 504 except as provided in this section.
   b.  Water services, other than water services provided as of July 1, 2011, shall not be provided within two miles of the limits a city by a rural water association incorporated under this chapter or chapter 504, except as provided in this section.
   4.  A rural water district or rural water association incorporated under this chapter or chapter 504 may give notice of intent to provide water service to a new area within two miles of a city by submitting a water plan to the city. The plan is only required to indicate the area within two miles of the city which the rural water district or rural water association intends to serve. If the city fails to respond to the rural water district’s or rural water association’s plan within ninety days of receipt of the plan, the rural water district or rural water association may provide service in the area designated in the plan. The city may inform the rural water district or rural water association within ninety days of receipt of the plan that the city requires additional time or information to study the question of providing water service outside the limits of the city. If additional time or information is required, the city shall respond to the rural water district’s or rural water association’s plan within one hundred eighty days of receipt of the plan. In responding to the plan, the city may waive its right to provide water service within the areas designated for service by the rural water district or rural water association, or the city may reserve the right to provide water service in some or all of the areas which the rural water district or rural water association intends to serve. If the city reserves the right to provide water service within some or all of the areas which the rural water district or rural water association intends to serve, the city shall provide service within four years of receipt of the plan. This section does not preclude a city from providing water service in an area which is annexed by the city.
EXPLANATION
   This bill amends Code section 357A.2 to restrict both a rural water district and a rural water association from providing water service within two miles of a city. A rural water district or a rural water association that intends to provide such water service is required to notify the city council or the city’s utility board.
   The bill identifies both rural water districts and rural water associations. A rural water association is not a district, i.e., organized under Code chapter 357A.