Several state lawmakers met for nearly two hours with residents in Rio Verde Foothills about the ongoing water crisis Sunday afternoon.
Organizers expected a crowd of about 60 people to attend Sunday's town hall. Instead, about 200 people attended the event.
"We found a house we thought was very well priced and thought we'd found a dream and it's kind of turned into a nightmare,” Tenley Shaw told ABC15.
Shaw moved to the area two and a half years ago hoping to retire, now she says limited supply and increasing water costs have her scared.
Holly Lasley says she worked two jobs for 17 years, all so she could afford to buy her dream home here, a purchase she made in 2014. That dream is now uncertain.
“It has absolutely destroyed the future for me out here,” Lasley said. “I wanted to get married, raise kids and have a family. How am I supposed to do that in the middle of a water crisis when they're telling us we're not going to have water and we're going to run dry?”
Lasley’s is one of more than 500 homeowners now left wondering if they'll still have water in the days to come.
“Water shouldn't be something we have to fight this hard for,” Shaw said.
State House Representatives Alexander Kolodin and Gail Griffin took questions from the audience, as did State Senator John Kavanagh.
A proposal for a long-term solution would see utility company EPCOR drill a new well, and build a treatment plant and water storage facility for Rio Verde Foothills.
If that project is approved by the Arizona Corporation Commission, it would still take at least two years to be ready.
In the meantime, Kavanagh says he's becoming more optimistic Scottsdale City Council will resume service temporarily to Rio Verde Foothills residents.
The city of Scottsdale released a statement ahead of Sunday's meeting saying they would not attend due to an ongoing lawsuit that has not been resolved, however, “Scottsdale is willing to discuss potential short and long-term solutions with Maricopa County.”
Kavanagh is bringing a bill to the floor hoping to find a resolution between Scottsdale and the Rio Verde Foothills residents.
“The bill says they'll provide the service they've always provided so long as they're totally reimbursed for pumping the water through their pipes, an outside source gives them the water to give to these people, and it in no way jeopardizes even one single Scottsdale houses' water supply,” Kavanagh told ABC15 after the meeting.
In the meantime, Lasley says she's tired of feeling like a political bargaining chip. She said she’s been boiling water just to bathe during the last few weeks.
“We need action. We don't need words anymore. We're running out of water. The neighbors are running out of water. The water haulers aren't keeping up and we need action now. We can't wait any longer,” Lasley said.
