Frantic residents of an Arizona suburb are hoarding water after nearby Scottsdale cut off future supplies early in the New Year, according to a report.
Citing the worsening drought, city officials said they could no longer provide water to approximately 1,000 residents in the foothills of the Rio Grande.
“There is no Santa,” Mayor David Ortega said in a direct statement last month, according to Scottsdale.org. “The mega-drought tells us all – water is not a game of compassion.”
The community, located just a few miles outside the affluent city limits, previously bought water from the municipality and can count on a steady supply.
But as the drought worsened, Scottsdale officials said they needed to conserve their water and turned off the pipe that supplies the community as part of a drought management plan.
Approximately 1,000 residents of a small suburban community in Arizona are without a water source.12 News
With supplies already cut off, residents of about 700 homes – many of them valued at more than $500,000 – are suddenly facing severe drought.
According to the New York Times, struggling homeowners tried to conserve as much water as possible by skipping showers, using paper plates to avoid washing dishes, and collecting rainwater.
She told Scottsdale.org, “It’s going to take me two months. I plan to take a shower at our health club to make it last longer.”
Faced with the prospect of dry properties, residents are also bracing for their home values to sink into the ground.
While proposed subdivisions with six or more lots are required to demonstrate a reliable water source for 100 years in the area, developers have escaped the restriction by building smaller communities of just a few houses.
Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega supported cutting off water supplies to the area. City of Scottsdale
“We’ve got about five to seven days of water left,” resident Wendy Walk told News 12. “My community is beautiful. This is the most special place in Arizona. And if there is no water, almost a thousand homes will die. I just hope our neighbors in Scottsdale see this and want to help.”
Residents of the affected enclave began protesting outside Scottsdale City Hall during official meetings to heighten their plight.
“Stop the cruelty! Give us our water!” read one poster.
Father-of-four Cody Reim claims his monthly water bill is about to increase by a huge amount, going from an average of $220 a month to over $1,000 for trucked water. Since Scottsdale shut down the nearest tube, trucks will have to haul from much further away.
“We need water now, we can’t wait a week and we can’t wait a day. This was not supposed to happen; we shouldn’t be ten days without water,” he said at one of the protests.
Scottsdale officials stopped deliveries at the beginning of the month.12 News
But some of the city’s residents have complained about their own limited water supply, refusing to budge on the issue until now.
Sarah Porter, head of Arizona State University’s Kyl Center for Water Policy, warned that the nation’s water woes are likely just beginning.
“We can’t just protect every single person who buys a lot and builds a home,” she told the Times. “Not enough money or water.”
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