Flagstaff, AZ Water Use Rules: Recycled Water Rules (2026)

Flagstaff City Code § 7-02-001-0025 governs how the City's reclaimed, or recycled, water system is built out and who owns it. Where the City authorizes an extension of a public reclaimed water pipeline, the reuser (the person or business connecting to it) pays for the engineering, the plan review, construction inspection, as-built drawings and easements, and a registered Arizona engineer must have the extension's plans and specifications approved by the City Engineer before construction starts. Once built and accepted for maintenance, the pipeline, its pump stations, treatment facilities and appurtenances vest in the City, and a property owner has no ownership claim to any part of the system except where the Code says otherwise.

The companion section, § 7-02-001-0026, fills in the reuse rules: a reuser who wants to convert an existing irrigation system to reclaimed water, or extend a reclaimed line, must sign a reclaimed water agreement or, for larger extensions approved by City Council, a reimbursement agreement executed by the Mayor. That agreement fixes the point of delivery (the metered vault or pit where reclaimed water is measured) and sets the quality, quantity and cost of the reclaimed water under Arizona Department of Environmental Quality reuse regulations.

A reuser who fronts the extension cost can recover it as a rebate of 10 percent per year for 10 years, paid at the end of each full year of reclaimed-water use, with no interest paid on the balance; a City-initiated conversion agreement instead recovers cost by billing consumption at 75 percent of the reuser's normal potable water rate. The Water Services Director signs reclaimed water agreements on the City's behalf.