Just outside Scottsdale, Arizona, one of Phoenix’s booming satellite cities, the Rio Verde Foothills are a desert landscape dotted with about 2,000 stucco homes in a cactus-strewn area. It looks just like the rest of the suburbs.rich community Median home price is $825,000it offered homebuyers cheap land, good schools, and mountain views, but, as many residents recently discovered, it lacked a steady water supply.

The city’s water pipes do not reach the Rio Verde Foothills, so about 25% to 35% of residents rely on a long-standing arrangement for private water trucks to deliver water from Scottsdale. When the city began threatening to cut off community access to Scottsdale’s water in 2015many Rio Verde Foothills residents didn’t believe that would actually happen. It continues to decline, and in early January, the city heeded its warning. About 500-700 units About 1,000 people in the Rio Verde foothills have access to private wells. Dig a private well to find another water source again Buy water from another city. Extra Distance Means Resident Might be so have to pay In some cases, the price is more than three times what you paid for water in Scottsdale.

Susanna Eden, Deputy Director of the University of Arizona Center for Water Resources Research, has studied the water resources of Arizona and the Southwest for over 30 years. She sees the Rio Verde Foothills situation as a textbook case for the dangers of Arizona’s “wildcat” housing development. This not only circumvents state groundwater laws to build homes without a fixed water supply, but it also shows the far-reaching effects of deterioration. Drought on the Colorado River. HCNMore I recently spoke with Eden about the Rio Verde Foothills and what it means for Arizona and America. Infinite Growth Fantasy in the Desert.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

High Country News: Back in the 1980s, Arizona passed very strong water laws (the Groundwater Management Act) that should help prevent situations like the ones seen in the Rio Verde foothills. Why couldn’t the law stop suburban growth in areas without reliable water supplies?

Susanna Eden: There are several reasons why the law has not been completely successful. The passage of the law itself was a compromise, allowing development to continue, but only if the developer could secure his 100-year water supply for each new house on the lot. For the Rio Verde Foothills Community,‘We’re not talking about developers that have gone through the process of obtaining a certificate of guaranteed water supply.‘redevelop real estate‘Less than 6 lots legally don‘No water needed.

More recently, Governor Katie Hobbs report The Arizona Department of Water Resources said it could not issue new certificates of guaranteed water supply for the West Valley area of ​​Phoenix. because there isThere is not enough groundwater to support the tens of thousands of homes planned for the area. In 2019, a similar announcement was made for Pinal County (southeast of Phoenix).

Unfortunately, these moratoriums apply only to official subdivisions. Nothing yet prevents Wildcat developers from dividing the land into he-four or he-five parcels to circumvent the law’s water supply requirements.

HCN: What are the current prospects for Rio Verde Foothills residents when it comes to water supply? Exactly how dire is the situation?

SE: They have options they are choosing not to pursue. They were able to develop water cooperatives. This imposed a tax or fee on all members to set up water services. That means getting a permit to dig a well and building a distribution system. Alternatively, you can negotiate with a private water company to serve your area. But they choose not to pursue that option. Many of the people who live in that community are individualists.All with water tank [or private wells] We want to live without the influence of local ordinances and state regulations. Their solution will expose them to it.

Nothing yet prevents Wildcat developers from dividing the land into four or five parcels to circumvent the law’s water supply requirements.

HCN: If water shortages become more severe, is there a risk that wealthy people will be able to get water by digging wells or finding alternative providers who charge three times the normal rate? On the other hand, those without these financial resources may lose their homes or be forced to leave their communities.? How can future water scarcity not exacerbate inequalities?

SE: I’m not exactly an optimist about it, but efforts to minimize these injustices are getting more attention than they used to. Importantly, Native American tribes are now included in the water dialogue, and efforts are being made to increase their visibility. For example, the Bureau of Reclamation organizes a forum for tribal debate, and Arizona tribes with quantified water rights influence policy under discussion.

HCN: If Rio Verde is an example of unsustainable development, what are the alternatives? Given the reality of water, how should we rethink the growth of the Western Desert? For example, the use of reclaimed water. to expand? Whether it’s plumbing groundwater from another groundwater basin or building a desalination plant, are you focused on finding the “next bucket”? Limiting growth altogether?

SE: The answer is to do them all. That means we keep looking for more, we keep using less, we keep finding ways to squeeze value out of the amount of water we currently have available. I don’t think there will ever be a moment when people say, “Ahaha, now we’re going to be different, we’re going to recognize that we have limitations.” But people are aware that if they just let things develop without action, they will suffer big losses.

I have a small place in the White Mountains with a water tank. I go to my local feed supply store and they send me a tanker to fill up my tank. I thought it might be necessary to track down the .

Sarah Tory is a journalist based in Colorado.She used to be a correspondent high country news. We welcome letters from our readers. e-mail high country news and [email protected] or submit lettersee us Letter to editor policy.