SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The long term water solution for the Rio Verde Foothills has cleared one more hurdle on its path to completion.
On Wednesday, the Arizona Corporation Commission voted in favor of the Rio Verde Foothills water solution with the Canadian-based utility company EPCOR, making them a permanent water-provider for the community.
Rio Verde Foothills, which was previously cut off from Scottsdale's water supply, won't be receiving its water from the city supply. Instead, Scottsdale "will receive and treat an additional allotment of CAP water, secured by the standpipe district through EPCOR, and provide it to haulers at the Pima Road Fill Station," a city official said earlier in the month.
More than 1,000 homes in Rio Verde Foothills rely on hauled water. They've been relying on a temporary agreement with the City of Scottsdale to provide water from the city's supply, but that agreement is set to run out in three years.
EPCOR, a Canadian water utility, petitioned the Arizona Corporation Commission to become the long-term water provider for the area.
Under both agreements, private water haulers fill up trucks from standpipes and deliver it to the homeowners.
But as a long-term provider, EPCOR has agreed to construct a new standpipe as well as find the water or water credits to suppy the water.
During the hearing Wednesday, most sides agreed in principle to EPCOR's plan. Some neighboring communities who already have water supplies, however, voiced concern over where that standpipe would be constructed and the increased traffic they feared it might be to their neighborhoods.
The Corporation Commissioners voted to allow EPCOR to move forward with engineering and price studies. As of now, EPCOR does not have a definitive amount to construct the standpipe. It also does not have a definitive cost it will charge for the water, or a definitive source of water, though EPCOR said ti could come from groundwater or from the Verde River.
The standpipe will take years to be constructed. Homeowners in Rio Verde Foothills expressed concern that the standpipe might not be finished by the time their agreement with the City of Scottsdale expires.
Scottsdale originally supplied the homeowners of Rio Verde Foothills with a supply of water for decades, but cut the community off on New Year's Day 2023, saying it had to protect its water supply for its own residents.
Rio Verde Foothills is outside the Scottsdale city limits.
Gov. Katie Hobbs previously signed a bill obligating cities to provide water through a standpipe to surrounding communities under certain conditions, including:
- the number of impacted residences to be serviced is up to 750 and the residences are in an area within a standpipe district and adjacent to the city
- the city or town had previously provided water service to the residences that no longer have access to sufficient water
- there is no other adequate source of water for those persons within 10 miles of their homes
- the city or town is reimbursed for the costs of providing and delivering the water
- the impacted area is in a county with a population of more than 750,000 residents
- if providing the water at the standpipe does not take away the amount of water available to residences and businesses located within the city's water service area.
Scottsdale had given the Rio Verde Foothills ample warning of its plan to cut water – an entire year. However no plan was in place when the cut-off date arrived.
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