Embattled Havasu Water Co. ordered into receivership

After four years of drinking water violations, operational failures and legal battles, Havasu Water Co. has been placed under court-appointed receivership, stripping its owner of control of the troubled utility serving hundreds of residents along the Colorado River.

But the court-ordered takeover has been anything but smooth.

In a status report filed Oct. 13 in San Bernardino Superior Court, receiver Scott Sackett accused company owner and CEO Jennifer Hodges of obstructing his efforts to take control, alleging confrontations, interference with access to facilities and an incident in which she struck his assistant with her vehicle.

The turmoil comes as the utility faces another threat — a federal court order requiring it to remove its pipeline from Chemehuevi tribal land or secure another water source.

Citing years of water quality problems, operational deficiencies and regulatory violations, Superior Court Judge Khymberli S. Apaloo appointed Sackett temporary receiver Sept. 4 and confirmed his appointment Oct. 7 at the request of the California Public Utilities Commission.

“At this stage the appointment of a receiver is appropriate to move the process forward to address the various problems facing the water company, to improve service to the community and to ensure that customers have water after the recent federal ruling,” Apaloo said.

On Oct. 15, Apaloo signed an order reaffirming Sackett’s authority to operate the utility, access its facilities, obtain records and collect revenues. The order prohibits interference with his duties and warns of possible contempt proceedings.

During a status conference Friday, Oct. 16, Apaloo ordered Hodges and her attorneys to cooperate with Sackett and the CPUC in turning over company financial records and equipment, including a backup water pump needing repair, by next week.

She also ordered Sackett to return Hodges’ personal belongings unrelated to the utility and directed Hodges to provide a list of those items.

“You guys are going to meet and confer and work together,” Apaloo said. “I’m going to set another hearing for sooner rather than later, because apparently it needs a lot of my hand holding, and I’m going to hold your hands as much as I can.”

The next hearing is Nov. 20.

The 66-year-old, privately owned utility serves approximately 360 residents through 226 customer accounts in Havasu Lake, near the California-Arizona border.

Contentious takeover

According to Sackett’s report, he arrived at the company’s offices Oct. 8 with San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies. Hodges did not answer the door of her adjacent residence, although her vehicle was outside.

An employee admitted Sackett and his assistant, James Remick, into the offices. About 15 minutes after the deputies left, Sackett said the electricity was cut off, and he heard circuit breakers being switched off in an adjacent room.

As Sackett and Remick prepared to leave with company computers and documents, Hodges confronted them, yelling and demanding the materials be returned, Sackett alleged.

Hodges subsequently accused one of the men of assaulting her and reported the allegation to deputies. Sackett denied it and said the allegation was false.

Sackett also learned that the company’s certified water treatment operator, Pat Hoban, had died Sept. 25. Hoban’s sister later told Sackett that Hodges had instructed her not to disclose his death to regulators or the receiver, according to the report.

Sackett said Hodges blocked access to the treatment facility Oct. 8. After he changed the locks, he returned the next day to find them cut and replaced.

The confrontation escalated on Oct. 9, when Hodges allegedly drove her vehicle into the facility gate, striking Remick as he held it open.

“Ms. Hodges then got out of her vehicle, refused to leave, and disrupted the receiver’s ability to take possession and operate the facility,” Sackett said in the report.

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Jenny Smith confirmed the incident was referred to the District Attorney’s Office for review. Remick reported no injuries and provided video evidence, she said.

Hodges also gave deputies a statement but was not arrested. The investigation remains active, Smith said.

Water treatment concerns

Beyond the confrontations, Sackett’s inspections revealed concerns about the utility’s operations and equipment.

Inside the company’s offices Oct. 8, he found scattered papers, dirty and disorganized conditions and no identifiable filing system. He also found two computers, including one containing company operating software.

Two days later, Sackett inspected the treatment plant with the company’s former operator and water treatment operator. They found the facility in “serious disrepair,” with exposed wiring, leaking sand filter tanks, damaged filters, failing floorboards and extensive deferred maintenance.

Sackett also discovered logs indicating water production continued after Hoban’s death without certified supervision. The records identified Hodges as one of the operators by her initials, “JH,” and an operator named “Sean,” apparently company employee Sean Chapin.

Despite those conditions, Sackett’s team resumed treated-water production Oct. 10, raising the storage tank’s water level from 4.5 feet to 10.4 feet. Production continued the following day, when the tank’s water level rose from 9.1 feet to 11.5 feet.

Chapin followed Sackett and Remick to their hotel to deliver no-trespassing notices, according to the report. Another no-trespassing notice was delivered to Sackett’s team Oct. 12, according to the report.

Years of water troubles

Havasu Water Co.’s troubles erupted in March 2022, when a power outage crippled its aging system. Without functioning backup generators, the company took nine days to restore running water. Residents went roughly a month without potable water.

The crisis triggered years of regulatory enforcement over equipment failures, inadequate staffing and drinking water violations.

From March 2022 to December 2023, state regulators issued nine citations totaling more than $7,800. Records showed residents had clean, running water only 44% of the time from March 2022 to March 2023.

The Environmental Protection Agency assumed drinking water oversight in January 2024 because the company’s pipeline crosses the Chemehuevi Indian Reservation.

Since then, the EPA has repeatedly cited the utility for drinking water violations, staffing deficiencies and reporting failures, issuing enforcement orders and a seventh notice of noncompliance in April 2026.

Meanwhile, the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe sued the utility in 2020, arguing that its agreement allowing a pipeline across reservation land expired in 2006.

The company disputes that interpretation. On Jan. 8, a federal judge ordered the utility to relocate its pipeline off tribal land by June 15 or secure another water source.

The company appealed, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to halt the eviction pending appeal.

On Aug. 27, U.S. District Judge George H. Wu held the company in civil contempt for violating the ejectment order. In a written order signed Sept. 2, Wu imposed a $100 daily sanction until the company stopped its unauthorized use of tribal land.

Customers fear retaliation

For years, customers have complained about unreliable service, high rates and alleged intimidation by Hodges, according to testimony submitted to the CPUC in October 2025.

Regulatory analyst Nikka Enriquez documented 98 customer complaints from 2022 to August 2025, including 72 involving outages, billing disputes or safety concerns.

Some residents alleged Hodges threatened shutoffs or pursued customers in small claims court. Others feared retaliation and declined to file complaints, according to Enriquez, who recommended receivership.

Havasu Lake resident Gary Chamberlain, 78, said he and his wife, Karen, have spent more than $18,000 in legal costs battling Hodges in court over poor water quality and high rates.

Although he welcomes the receivership, Chamberlain worries Hodges eventually could regain control of the company.

“We know the receivership is temporary, and she (Hodges) still owns the company,” Chamberlain said in a telephone interview. “This is still a concern because the company could go back to her. And if she were to get it back, we would be back in the same situation.”

Attorney challenges takeover

Havasu Water Co. attorney Patrick Webb disputed the receivership’s legitimacy, accusing Sackett of misrepresenting his authority to deputies and unlawfully entering Hodges’ private residence and seizing personal property.

Webb challenged California’s jurisdiction, arguing that federal law prohibits state civil regulation of property within the Chemehuevi Indian Reservation.

“The CPUC has no jurisdiction to impose a receivership on non-Indian property and non-Indian companies operating within the boundaries of an Indian reservation,” Webb said.

Apaloo rejected the company’s jurisdictional objections in confirming Sackett’s appointment.

Webb also disputed the federal pipeline litigation, arguing federal agencies with interests in the property were improperly excluded. He maintained that many regulatory violations involved reporting requirements rather than water quality and blamed litigation for diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars from infrastructure improvements.

He defended the company’s boil-water notices as precautions during repairs, maintaining that subsequent laboratory tests showed the water was safe.

Despite the legal challenges, Webb said the company remains committed to preserving customers’ access to Colorado River water, accusing the tribe and state regulators of conspiring to deprive residents of that supply.

Havasu Water Co. “appreciates its customers patience as it works tirelessly to protect its customers right to the Colorado River water, which the Chemehuevi and the CPUC have conspired to take without just compensation, in a desert where there is no alternative source of fresh water other than the river,” Webb said.