Arizona’s Special Districts Support FIRE SMART Act to Close Water-for-Fire Suppression Gaps in Rural WUI

 

The Arizona Special Districts Alliance (ASDA) strongly supports bipartisan federal legislation that would modify existing water infrastructure programs to assist with fire suppression needs in small, fire-prone rural communities.

S. Padilla (Curtis), the Firefighting Infrastructure for Rural and Exurban Smaller Municipalities Augmenting Residential Fuels Treatments (FIRES SMART) Act of 2026, would allow flexibility for water districts, municipal water agencies, and other eligible public water systems to leverage the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) to better meet fire suppression demands in their communities while supporting the public health and environmental goals of the program. The Water Infrastructure Finance Authority administers Arizona’s DWSRF program.

If passed, the FIRE SMART Act would expand eligible DWSRF projects allowing communities with fewer than 50,000 people with a designated high risk of fire to:

·       Increase their water transmission and distribution capacities to meet the need for fire demands.

·       Add water storage capacity.

·       Assist with water system mergers in communities to enhance water supply for fire needs.

Priority would go toward communities with Community Wildfire Prevention Plans.

ASDA applauds Senator Mark Kelly for his original co-sponsorship of this critical, long-awaited legislation to improve water infrastructure for firefighting in Arizona’s rural, fire-prone communities.

Carol Shrock, ASDA President, who serves on the boards of directors for the Thunderbird Fire District and Thunderbird Irrigation Water Delivery District No. 1 in Pinal County, made the following statement on the FIRE SMART Act’s introduction:

"The FIRE SMART Act is a solution to help Arizona's fire, domestic water improvement, and irrigation districts serving the rural, wildland-urban interface access existing infrastructure finance tools to enhance water-for-fire infrastructure in their communities. The flexibility FIRE SMART would allow for small communities with high fire risk to meet local water-for-fire infrastructure demands leveraging the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. This would be a tool in the toolbox for the many communities across like in northwestern Pinal County, where fire districts must travel 30 miles to the nearest community with adequate fire suppression infrastructure in response to fire - all while upholding the program's public health and safety goals. ASDA applauds Senator Mark Kelly for his leadership on this critical issue for Arizona."

Senator Kelly was favorably responsive to ASDA’s May 17 letter requesting his support for this then-draft measure as a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Arizona’s special districts have been advocating for solutions within existing federal infrastructure programs to better serve needs of fire and domestic water delivery districts serving the state’s rural communities. The high cost of water-for-fire infrastructure funding is a top barrier for many of the state’s resource-strapped special districts to upgrade existing systems, invest in new infrastructure, and altogether enhance water and fire protection to reduce insurance risk and premiums in the community. From this perspective, ASDA views water-for-fire infrastructure as three-pronged issue plugged into a community’s health, safety, and affordability.

Arizona Special Districts Alliance at info.asd.alliance@gmail.com.