One Valley community is adjusting to a new reality now that they are without access to a familiar water source.
"Really concerned and worried. In fact, I'm happy I have a pool because every time it rains at least I can siphon that," says Dee Thomas, Rio Verde Foothills resident.
Just days into the new year, residents in the Rio Verde Foothills community are getting creative with how they conserve and use water.
"We use it mostly for showering. For, you know, washing clothes, the bathroom," says Thomas.
On January 1st, the City of Scottsdale stopped providing the ability for water to be purchased and hauled outside city limits as part of their drought management plan.
In a memo, Scottsdale says they have been generous and accommodating for years, but the city cannot be responsible for the water needs of a separate community, especially given its unlimited and unregulated growth.
"We did everything that they asked us to do - finding other resources, having it brought into us. But, they left us high and dry," says Thomas.
Dee Thomas says the community well near her home went dry years ago and she had no luck when trying to put in her own well.
She's been having her water hauled but even that is changing.
Water hauling companies are also impacted, like Rio Verde Water, they say their customers have been paying around 5-cents per gallon and will now have to pay about double that price because of logistical challenges.
"Huge increase in time it takes to deliver the water to the customers out here, the manpower it takes, just the wear-and-tear," says John Hornewer, owner of Rio Verde Water.
Owner John Hornewer says they've been importing 50 million gallons of water per year into the community and says the city of Scottsdale's infrastructure is large enough to accommodate that. While other cities, may not be.
"We can't just use any other one municipality up. We have to take our loads from multiple areas so that we don't degrade or overpressure anyone's system," says Hornewer.
We're told it won't be as reliable and customers may not be able to receive as much, putting John in a troubling situation.
"It's more than just a business - this is a community, it's my friends, it's my neighbors and I'm obligated to them," says Hornewer.
EPCOR, a private water company, is considering helping the community, but a deal still needs to get approved. In the meantime, many community members have banded together and hired a law firm to hopefully put some pressure on Scottsdale.
