Sarah Porter, director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University, explains why neighborhoods in Arizona were cut off from water and why this is an isolated incident.
Scottsdale, Arizona – for years, Arizonaof the Rio Verde Foothills suburb purchased water from the city of Scottsdale, which was trucked in. January 1, truck stopped comingand residents were forced to face a reality Scottsdale City officials warned was coming due to a 20-year drought.
About 1,000 residents of unincorporated Maricopa County say they have about five days of water left. Residents are avoiding showers, avoiding dishwashers and trying to collect rainwater.
Following high-profile water outages, Scottsdale officials revealed that the Rio Verde Foothills had been warned for “years” that the city was not responsible for the community’s water supply. bottom. His December notice of the impending cutoff cited notices dating back to 2015.
The Rio Verde Foothills are part of unincorporated Maricopa County and are outside the jurisdiction of Scottsdale. Therefore, responsible for his own 100-year water plan, which must be certified by the Arizona Department of Water Resources.
Sarah Porter, director of the Kyle Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University, told FOX Weather the situation in Rio Verde is unique.
Stephen Coniaris speaks with reporters after lunch at his home in Rio Verde Foothills, Arizona, USA, January 9, 2023. Conialis and his wife, Donna, eat on paper plates and cook in a less water-intensive way to limit their hauls. water they use.
While there are several other communities in Arizona that pay out-of-town water bills, like Rio Verde, Rio Verde is an “exceptional case,” according to Porter.
Arizona, a desert state, has one of the strictest water requirements in the country for new housing developments. New developments of 6 or more homes must prove 100 years of water supply.
Porter said Rio Verde circumvented this requirement because landowners divided the land by lot and it was not built according to a master plan.
“We never thought about ensuring a long-term water supply. People bought homes knowing they were dependent on water brought in from trucks,” Porter said. “This is a rather unusual situation in Arizona, especially closer to the city.”
Should other regions worry about water supply?
John Honewer pumps water down a tanker ladder to pump water from Apache Junction in Rio Verde Foothills, Arizona, USA, January 7, 2023.
(Getty Images)
Arizona gets about 36% of its water from the Colorado River.Over the last 20 years, the water level has lake meadthe big Colorado River reservoir is falling in the middle drought conditions.
The Scottsdale-Rio Verde water outage on January 1 was part of a Tier 2 mandatory water outage on the Colorado River that cut Arizona’s supply from the Colorado River by 21%.
Earlier this year, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs unsealed a report from the Arizona Department of Water Resources that showed development in parts of the Phoenix area fell 15% below 100-year water supply requirements. .
NASA images show Lake Mead water levels at lowest in over 80 years
Some cities have water infrastructure to support growth. However, others do not.
“Each city manages its own water portfolio, and some cities like Phoenix have robust portfolios that can support a lot of growth,” Porter said. “Some cities, especially remote areas, are in a more difficult situation because water was not present when it was allotted.”
The unsealed water report highlights one area in particular: a suburb called Buckeye in the westernmost valley of the Phoenix area.by city websiteBuckeye is “one of the fastest growing cities in the country”.
Porter said water planning is essential as the population grows.
“If you want to keep developing new housing subdivisions to meet 100 years’ worth of water supply requirements, you have to go find new sources of water,” Porter said. .”
Arizona Agriculture Hit Hardest by Water Outages
File photo: Aerial view of farmland in Pinal County, Arizona. Air support by LightHawk. (Photo: Wild Horizon/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
Arizona Department of Water Resources (DWR) Director Tom Buschatzke told Fox Weather that 2023 will be the second year the Colorado River has been cut off.
Arizona’s agricultural industry colorado Decrease in river supply. Farmers will also be hit hardest in the first year of logging in 2022.
According to DWR, irrigated agriculture is the largest user of water in the state, consuming approximately 74% of the available water supply.
“Some farmers have already lost their water supplies in central Arizona, and we will see tribes and cities lose as well, or at least some of them,” Buschatzke said. says.
However, in most cases, residents do not need to limit water use in their homes.
