Let it flow: Rio Verde Foothills welcomes new permanent water supply

PHOENIX – Three years after the city of Scottsdale left Rio Verde Foothills high and dry, the unincorporated desert community has a new permanent water supply.

EPCOR turned on the taps at its new Rio Verde Foothills filling station on New Year’s Day, completing a yearslong project.

The Canada-based utility company, which operates in several U.S. states, including Arizona, invested more than $10 million to build a pipeline and standpipe for Rio Verde Foothills residents.

Why did Rio Verde Foothills lose its previous water supply?

The community sits about 32 miles northeast of Scottsdale along the edge of McDowell Mountain Regional Park. After years of warning, Scottsdale stopped supplying water there on Jan. 1, 2023.

“They were in a situation where they felt that their water resources were needed for their residents, and they made a decision to terminate service,” Shawn Bradford, senior vice president of regulated U.S. water for EPCOR, told KTAR News 92.3 FM.

Scottsdale said it had no legal obligation to continue the arrangement, underscoring how vulnerable communities without reliable water service could become amid drought threatening southwestern U.S. states.

EPCOR began working with the city of Scottsdale, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and Arizona Corporation Commission to find a solution. The ACC eventually gave EPCOR the right and the obligation to provide water service to Rio Verde Foothills customers.

In the meantime, EPCOR supplied the community with water using Scottsdale’s infrastructure in a temporary arrangement that ended Dec. 31, 2025.

How do Rio Verde Foothills residents get water now?

The utility had existing water resources that had not been allocated to customers, making excess supply available for the project. Customers can now access their water at an EPCOR station just south of Rio Verde Foothills.

“It’s a water pipeline that we pump some groundwater out of the ground and move it through this pipeline into a standpipe, and it actually is a filling station,” Bradford explained. “So, it’s a tank and the customers come in and they fill their water filling trucks and haul their water to their homes.”

The utility company will be seeking recovery of upfront costs to build the infrastructure through customer rates. Rio Verde Foothills residents can go to EPCOR’s website to set up an account for water service.

About 500 homes relied on water from Scottsdale before the city ended service. So far, about 1,400 homes have signed up for the new standpipe.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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