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Residents of the Rio Verde Foothills of Scottsdale, Arizona are going to extreme and inconvenient measures to obtain water as they count down the days until the supply runs out.
The city officially stopped transporting water to the neighboring unincorporated area on the first day of the new year.
Scottsdale has blamed the ongoing drought for its decision to turn off its tap water to its neighbors. The city says it can no longer afford to sell water to its neighbors and must focus on conserving water for its own residences.
That critical decision has left between 500 and 700 households, approximately 1,000 people, many of whom operate businesses and send their children to school within the Scottsdale city limits, without a reliable source of water.
Water in Arizona has been a major sociopolitical issue for years as authorities and communities understand the reality that Lake Mead is drying up and there may not be enough Colorado River water to support some populations in the future. near.
Rio Verde Foothills is a small unincorporated area west of Scottsdale, Arizona.
Residents of the area’s many McMansions, stucco houses and half-million dollar ranches are desperately searching for a solution to a very serious problem.
Homeowners say they are counting down the days until their water supplies run out.
“It’s terrible,” said Cody Reim, who says his monthly water bill will now skyrocket to around $1,000 a month. ‘We need water now, we can’t wait a week, and we can’t wait a day. This should not have happened; we should not go ten days without water.
Reim, a father of four young children, organized the protest. He said that sitting and waiting was impossible for him.
Water-related financial turmoil has jeopardized the living situation of young families and retirees alike. The average family’s water bill in the area has gone up to $660 from $220 per month. And while the water trucks can be filled and refilled for now, it’s unclear how long current backup sources will last.
According to Sarah Porter, director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University, what is happening in Rio Verde right now should act as a warning to other unincorporated areas that depend on water from the Colorado River, which supplies about 35 percent of Arizona’s water.
“We can’t just protect every person who buys a piece of land and builds a house. There is not enough money or water,’ he told her to the New York Times.
He added that several other unincorporated areas in Arizona rely on water from nearby larger cities, including Prescott and Flagstaff, and that those systems are also fragile, given the current reality of drought.
Even the current storms in California will not save the area, which is experiencing the profound impact of a 20-year drought that has nearly emptied Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the US.
Before the outage, houses without their own wells received water every few weeks by truck.
The trucks were filled with Scottsdale water at a pipeline about 15 minutes from Rio Verde Foothills and then delivered the water directly to residents’ doors. Buried beneath their front yards, the families have 5,000-gallon storage tanks, which is enough water for the average family per month.
When the tanks ran out, residents called for water carriers to fill them up.
The arrangement was never more robust than that, but the home’s occupants told the Times that the water always arrived on time and that they had come to believe the system was reliable.
Now those water trucks have to look elsewhere to recharge.
Rio Verde protesters who had their water shut off on January 1 sued the city of Scottsdale last week for shutting off a utility.
Trucks carrying 5,000 gallons of water to individual residences in the foothills of Rio Verde must now go elsewhere to find water for customers, adding to the time and cost of the process.
Pictured: Downtown Scottsdale, Arizona. The reality of the ongoing drought will force many living in the southwestern United States to reevaluate their lifestyles and access to resources.
Protesters with families and just a days supply of water gather outside Scottsdale City Hall
Lake Mead has been drying up for two decades, and according to Scottsdale, there is no longer enough water available to sell to surrounding areas.
Protesters gather outside Scottsdale City Hall after the water supply was shut off in January.
Last week, a group of Rio Verde Foothills residents sued Scottsdale in an effort to get their water back. They argue that the city is violating Arizona law by cutting off utility services to customers beyond its borders.
Scottsdale did not respond to the lawsuit.
Protesters with signs gathered outside Scottsdale City Hall as Mayor David Ortega welcomed new and returning council members to the chamber.
Rio Verde residents huddled together told local media that they are on the brink of running out of water.
“We have five to seven days of water left,” Wendy Walk said. News 12.
‘My community is beautiful; It is the most special place in Arizona. And if you don’t have water, almost a thousand houses, you’re going to die. I just hope our neighbors in Scottsdale see this and want to help,” Reim said.
“I think this is a just cause,” he said.