Faucets poised to run dry for hundreds of Arizona residents by year's end
Drought means hundreds of homes in Arizona are poised to lose their water by the end of the yer.
RIO VERDE FOOTHILLS, Ariz. — More than 500 homes in this affluent desert community that boasts mountain views, ample trees and ranches hidden in the crooks of scrubby hills will run out of water by year's end as drought tightens its grip on the West.
Residents of Rio Verde Foothills outside Scottsdale have tried for years to resolve the looming crisis to no avail as the deadline to stop their water deliveries draws closer, forcing individual homeowners to find their own sources of water for drinking, bathing, washing dishes or doing their laundry.
“It’s going to be really ugly and terrible for our homeowners and landowners,” said Karen Nabity, who has lived in Rio Verde Foothills for seven years. “Some of us will borrow water from a friend’s well, others will have to pay a water hauler from far away.”
Rio Verde Foothills resident Karen Nabity.Dean J. Hampton / NBC NewsAs climate change makes the western United States hotter and drier, the looming crisis in Rio Verde Foothills exemplifies how cities and states could be forced to vie for a diminishing amount of the natural resource.
The rural community of about 2,200 homes in unincorporated Maricopa County does not have its own water system, and most residents get their water from private wells on their properties. But more than 500 homeowners rely strictly on truck haulers to deliver water from a standpipe in Scottsdale. Another 200 whose wells are running dry periodically use the water haulers, as well, residents say.
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