STRAWBERRY, Ariz.—Nearly two years ago, officials with the Pine-Strawberry Water Improvement District seemed on the verge of finding a solution to their water woes.Ìý
Located between Phoenix and Flagstaff, the water infrastructure of these two rural unincorporated communities of roughly 3,000 in Gila County was failing. Wells constructed by ranchers decades ago and sold to the water district were failing from age and poor construction, and over a third of the water they pumped from the ground leaked from the aging pipes.
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