Zee Peralta sprawling wild desert, sits a quiet cluster of paradise with a view of the McDowells and the Superstitions. The once-rural ranching community of A Rio Verde Foothills is a 20-square-mile mecca where horses and wildlife are abun- dant. A slice of paradise. But a dry slice. There is hardly enough water in the ground to go around. The story of the unfolding water crisis in Rio Verde Foothills is a cautionary one for the rest of the region. Years of scholarly warn- ings from water experts about the strain on the Colorado River are hitting home. Wa- ter shortages are no longer a far-off theo- retical problem. An extreme drought has lingered for a generation. Politicians wrestle over finding a sustainable water plan. White-hot mar- ket forces are driving up demand for homes and development. The public agen- cies charged with curbing wildcat develop- ment and ensuring adequate water supply say it’s somebody else’s job. Homeowners don’t always know what they’re buying and consumer protections are weak. Rio Verde Foothills is hardly rural any- more, as the city of Scottsdale edges ever bout an hour’s drive north- east from the bustle of downtown Phoenix, where single-lane roads allow ani- mals to roam free across the closer to the unincorporated community. Increasingly, the community is becoming suburban, with 2,100 homes there now. It was not a master-planned commu- nity so there’s no homeowner’s associa- tion or company to provide utilities for all. And that suits many of the people there just fine. “We are a gun-toting group of people who love our rights and our freedoms,” said Karen Nabity, who has deep roots in the Rio Verde Foothills community. Around 500 homeowners like Karen are able to survive in such a remote area be- cause tractor trailer-sized trucks full of wa- ter visit their homestead once a month to fill their cisterns. Water-hauling busi- nesses buy the liquid gold from Scottsdale’s municipal water filling station nearby the intersection of North Pima and East Jomax roads, then deliver the water to customer properties often down lone dusty trails. “The majority of people who move out here don’t want an HOA or be told what they can do with their property,” Nabity said. “They’re not fearful but they don’t care for the government, they want to be completely independent. So we’re trying to create a [water] solution that fits every- body.” No Water in Paradise While many properties were built with water wells or plans for them, many wells have run dry over the years. As the demand for development in the Arizona desert intensifies, and the climate gets hotter and drier, there’s less water for everybody. And almost nobody knows how much water is left in the aquifer beneath the Rio Verde Foothills, which sits in hard moun- tain rock formations. That aquifer does not retain water in the ground as easily as more sponge-like rock formations in other com- munities across Maricopa County. “Groundwater around the fringes of the [Maricopa County water basin] is not always reliable,” said Alan Dulaney, a re- tired city of Peoria administrator with three decades of experience in Arizona water policy. “The more wells you put in, the more straws you put in, the quicker it can run dry.” Rio Verde Foothills residents fear that in the coming years more wells will have the same fate and their hard-earned lifestyle will wither away. The clock is ticking for the community faster than ever. The city of Scottsdale is enforcing its drought manage- ment plan and could punish any water hauling business which sells municipal wa- ter meant for Scottsdale residents to those outside city limits starting December. Scottsdale’s top water official, Brian Biesemeyer, repeatedly declined an inter- The road into Rio Verde Foothills. view for this story. The city’s spokesperson, Valerie Schneider responded via email to submitted questions after first deferring comment to Maricopa County. “Scottsdale is willing to discuss assist- ing Rio Verde. But until a [Domestic Wa- ter Improvement District], or formal entity, is established, our hands are tied,” Schneider said. Not an Isolated Case This unincorporated community and its water problems may seem like an anomaly in Maricopa County, where residents didn’t quite understand the rules before signing on the dotted line and purchasing their dream homes. Tens of thousands of residents are ex- pected to face the same issue as Arizona’s extreme drought drags on, and people keep buying single-family homes on the edges of cities. Like other Southwestern states, Arizona relies on water from the Colorado River to thrive. The river, via the Central Arizona Project, brings water to millions statewide. But 27 years of drought means water is increasingly scarce. The city of Phoenix raised its water rates on city residents to drill groundwater wells several years ago because it projected a shortage >> p 16 15 phoenixnewtimes.com | CONTENTS | FEEDBACK | OPINION | NEWS | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | PHOENIX NEW TIMES FEB 3RD– FEB 9TH, 2022
