Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 45-2202 – Formation

A. An authority may be formed in any county with a population of more than ninety thousand persons and less than one hundred twenty thousand persons according to the most recent United States decennial census or in a county that contains a portion of the Harquahala irrigation non-expansion area and that does not contain any portion of an active management area.
B. The members of the authority may include:
1. 1. Municipal corporations in the county that:
  1. (a) Had contracts with the United States for the delivery of Colorado River water as of January 1, 1993.
  2. (b) Have adopted resolutions approving the formation of the authority as prescribed by subsection C, paragraph 1 of this section.
2. 2. For an authority in a county that contains a portion of the Harquahala irrigation non-expansion area and that does not contain any portion of an active management area, eligible entities as prescribed in section 45-554, subsection D that:
  1. (a) Own acres or have adopted plans to acquire acres that may be irrigated in the Harquahala irrigation non-expansion area pursuant to section 45-437, subsection B.
  2. (b) Have adopted resolutions approving the formation of the authority as prescribed by subsection C, paragraph 1 of this section.
  3. (c) Are not the state.
C. The authority shall be formed on the occurrence of the following events:
1. 1. The adoption of resolutions approving the authority's formation by either of the following:
  1. (a) A majority of the municipal corporations in the county that had contracts with the United States for the delivery of Colorado River water as of January 1, 1993.
  2. (b) For an authority in a county that contains a portion of the Harquahala irrigation non-expansion area and that does not contain any portion of an active management area, two or more eligible entities as prescribed in section 45-554, subsection D. For the purposes of this subdivision, one of the eligible entities must be the board of supervisors of the county in which the authority is formed.
2. 2. The transfer to the authority of the right to the delivery of eighteen thousand five hundred acre-feet per year of Colorado River water from a municipal corporation in the county where the authority is to be formed within seven hundred thirty days after the adoption of resolutions as prescribed by paragraph 1 of this subsection.
D. A municipal corporation and eligible entity as prescribed in section 45-554, subsection D shall jointly appoint a person to represent the municipal corporation on the authority.
E. On full compliance with subsection C of this section, the authority shall:
1. 1. Notify the board of supervisors in the county in which the authority is formed of the authority's formation.
2. 2. Publish a notice of the authority's formation once each week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the authority is formed.
3. 3. Notify each applicable authority member that the events prescribed by subsection C of this section have occurred.
F. An authority member that in connection with the formation of the authority or after the formation of the authority transfers, or causes to be transferred, to the authority all or a portion of its contractual entitlement to the delivery of Colorado River water shall remain an authority member after the transfer.
G. By vote of the directors, the membership of the authority may be expanded to include municipal corporations in the county that obtains contracts for the delivery of Colorado River water from the United States after January 1, 1993 and that have adopted a resolution approving the inclusion.