A lottery will determine which Rio Verde residents will have access to water supplies

RIO VERDE, AZ (AZFamily)— Residents of the Rio Verde Foothills are looking for a new source of water after state regulators set a lottery limit for new customers. This happens after The city of Scottsdale has shut off water to the Rio Verde foothills. as part of its water conservation plans.

As a result, hundreds of homeowners were left without drinking water. Governor Katie Hobbs stepped in and signed Last summer, a bill required Scottsdale to continue delivering water to the foothills. over the next three years until water utility EPCOR can take over.

“They originally got their water from a standpipe in Scottsdale, which continues today on a temporary basis until we can build the infrastructure needed to support them,” said Rebecca Stenholm of EPCOR.

In addition to the 1,273 existing homeowners who switched utilities to EPCOR water, Arizona Corporation Commission said they could only accommodate another 150 clients who planned to build there.

“We obviously didn’t want to be in a situation of choice, and we know there are a lot of people out there,” Stenholm said.

Two hundred and thirty property owners applied for the lottery, but residents like David Weber were not selected. “They’re depriving people of water, and it’s very unfortunate and it’s not necessary,” Weber said.

Weber owned his property for three years and dreamed of building a structure on it.

Now, without water resources, he said things could change.

“This deal affected everyone, even people who have wells and people like me who didn’t really run out there to build something right away. But I certainly didn’t want the rug to be pulled out from under me enough to build anything on,” Weber said.

EPCOR said the new riser project could take 24 to 36 months to complete. Those selected in the lottery will have to pay a connection fee of $24,000 to offset construction costs.

Those who are not selected will have to find a third party to obtain water. More detailed information about the project can be found on the EPCOR website..

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