We're not ready to solve the real water problem in Rio Verde Foothills
Opinion: Problems for Rio Verde Foothills residents and others will only get worse – until we're ready to address the root causes behind their water issues.
Joanna Allhands
We’re not ready to solve the Rio Verde Foothills problem.
And no, I’m not talking about finding water for about 500 residents who will be left dry in roughly 120 days, now that the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has rejected their request to form a domestic water improvement district.
I’m talking about the root cause that got this community north of Scottsdale into trouble in the first place.
The thing that, even if we find a temporary fix to keep taps flowing, will continue to drag this community and others into the dust.
'Wildcat' lot splits can skirt water rules
Rio Verde Foothills is in an active management area, which offers the state’s most stringent groundwater regulations. That includes requiring subdivisions to prove they have a 100-year water supply before any homes can get built.
But a loophole in state law allows land to be subdivided into as many as five lots before it is considered a subdivision.
That’s the problem.
What next? Options for Rio Verde Foothills are running dry
Most homes in Rio Verde Foothills exist because of these so-called wildcat lot splits. Some residents have wells, though many are now struggling to produce enough water to sustain them.
Others have no access to water, other than a temporary arrangement to haul water from Scottsdale, which is cutting off that option at the end of the year because it, too, is facing deep uncertainty about its water supply.
County, state leaders are unwilling to act
Similar water problems are cropping up across Arizona, on the outskirts of Phoenix, near Prescott and in communities like Strawberry and Pine. Growth continues unfettered in areas that are groaning under the weight of too many homes and not enough water to supply them.
You’d think that if we found ourselves in a hole like this, we’d have the presence of mind to stop digging.
Yet the county governments that oversee these lands say they are powerless to stop wildcat lot splits, because state law doesn’t allow them to turn down building permits solely based on their access to water.
True. Though counties could adopt more stringent zoning codes or overlays, which could at least ensure that any new homes in water-challenged areas use as little of this precious resource as possible.
But no one wants to go there. Not yet, at least.
Convincing lawmakers to close this loophole may be even more of a longshot.
A bill to scale back but not end wildcat lot splits died quickly last session with no discussion. Passing additional legislation to regulate growth in areas that lack the water to support it has long been DOA, no matter how much constituents may plead for protection.
Finding water won't solve the ultimate problem
With a water improvement district now effectively off the table, a private water utility may be able to bail out residents for a while, presuming the corporation commission approves its offer to help and the company can find additional water to sell them.
That won’t be quick. EPCOR says it could take at least two years to drill a well in the area and construct a standpipe – long after the water for some residents runs out. It’s unclear where water would come from in the interim (or how long water from such a well would last, given the area’s groundwater challenges).
Nor will it be cheap. EPCOR is already warning that any water delivered to Rio Verde Foothills will be significantly more expensive than what it provides to New River residents who lost their sole source of hauled water from Phoenix a few years ago.
This is a Band-Aid, not the ultimate fix.
Until we better connect land-use decisions with our water reality, owners will keep splitting lots.
Real-estate agents will continue to gloss over the water implications with prospective buyers. (“But it’s in such a desirable location, just north of Scottsdale!”)
And starry-eyed homeowners will keep signing on the dotted line, blissfully unaware that their taps are flowing on borrowed time.
Reach Allhands at joanna.allhands@arizonarepublic.com. On Twitter: @joannaallhands.
If you love this content (or love to hate it – hey, I won't judge), why not subscribe to get more?