I think this was poorly explained in the article, their other legal mechanism would be to elect a functioning city government. In the absence of this, they can legally declare the city abandoned so that they are administered directly by the county (regional) government.
As long as the city exists, the city is typically responsible for utilities within the city limits. The city government is responsible for requesting aid and coordinating repairs to the water infrastructure. There seem to be some sort of local politics issue where they are unwilling to elect local officials to do this, may be people on the other side who want the city to be declared abandoned. By abandoning the city they can appeal directly to the county government to help repair the water system.
I think this was poorly explained in the article, their other legal mechanism would be to elect a functioning city government. In the absence of this, they can legally declare the city abandoned so that they are administered directly by the county (regional) government.
As long as the city exists, the city is typically responsible for utilities within the city limits. The city government is responsible for requesting aid and coordinating repairs to the water infrastructure. There seem to be some sort of local politics issue where they are unwilling to elect local officials to do this, may be people on the other side who want the city to be declared abandoned. By abandoning the city they can appeal directly to the county government to help repair the water system.