The Cottonwood Valley Water Conservancy District paid outside consultants more than four million dollars over three fiscal years, according to invoices obtained through a public records request. The district has declined to release the underlying reports, calling them "pre-decisional drafts" exempt from disclosure.
Groundwork requested the records in January after a routine review of district board minutes showed repeated references to a "system modernization" contract that never appeared in any public agenda item. The district's general counsel initially denied the request in full.
An appeal to the state records committee is pending. In the meantime, invoices reviewed by Groundwork show payments to at least four firms, three of which share a registered agent with a lobbying group that opposed a 2023 rate-transparency bill.
The district's spokesperson, in a written statement, said all spending "complied with procurement policy" and that a public report would be released "when appropriate." She did not answer follow-up questions about timing.
Groundwork will continue to update this story as records become available.