RVF Water Resources Inc.

THE ISSUE

WATER DISTRICT SOLUTION DENIED BY MARICOPA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

Over 500 properties in the Rio Verde Foothills rely on hauled water for their homes. This is for a number of reasons: wells have gone dry, cost, new wells drilled have hit nothing, etc. The City of Scottsdale, which has supplied the majority of hauled water for over 40 years, has officially announced water hauling will cease to areas outside of the City's boundaries at the end of 2022 per this Press Release.

As of 11/30/2022, there is NO WATER SOLUTION in place for 1/1/2023.

The water situation for Arizona is now critical:

"If you look out two years, Lake Powell could go so low that it's essentially dry," Tom Buschatzke, who runs Arizona's water department said. "What that would mean if we hit that, is no water in the river through the Grand Canyon." Watch the full story HERE

For a MAP of the Rio Verde Foothills area located East of N. Scottsdale, Arizona click HERE. and go to the bottom of the page.

WATER DISTRICT SOLUTION DENIED BY MARICOPA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

THE FOLLOWING SOLUTION HAS BEEN DENIED BY THE MARICOPA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS!

AS OF 8/31/2022, WE HAVE NO WATER SOLUTION FOR JANUARY 1, 2023!!

AN APPEAL HAS BEEN FILED WITH THE COURT.

The only solution presented as of August 31ST, 2022 is the petition to form a Domestic Water Improvement District (District/DWID) so the District can secure a long-term legally dedicated source of water for its members and non-members by purchasing more water than what the entire Rio Verde Foothills currently uses.

The District plan was to:

Initially secure a short-term, interim water supply to be served on behalf of the District at the Scottsdale fill station starting on January 1, 2023.

Secure 200+ acre feet of long-term water from an outside source, most likely Harquahala Valley, that can be transported via the Central Arizona Project canals to the City of Scottsdale for processing. This is more water than the entire community currently hauls which will provide water for both members and non-members.

Purchase land, build a fill station and lay a waterline from the District's fill station to Scottsdale's waterline to retrieve the water owned by the District.

The District's fill station will have 3 commercial fill stations with one having an accommodation for those who self-haul. Access will be available to both commercial and self haulers.

Scottsdale has agreed to retrieve the District's water from the CAP canal and process the water for the District.

Scottsdale has agreed to allow the District to use its fill station at Pima and Jomax until the District's fill station is complete. A special coding system will be set up for the District's water.

The reason the District has the ability to import a long-term legally dedicated outside source of water is due strictly to the District's ability to purchase Harquahala Valley water and Scottsdale's ability to enter an Intergovernmental Agreement, for a fee, to receive the District's water purchase via the Central Arizona Project canals, process the water and initially make the water available at the City's standpipe until the District's fill station is built and connected to retrieve the District's water.

EPCOR PROPOSES A SOLUTION

WATER DISTRICT SOLUTION DENIED BY MARICOPA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

EPCOR PROPOSES A SOLUTION

EPCOR submitted an application on 10/13/2022 to provide water via a standpipe service to the Rio Verde Foothills. This application is for a long-term solution and does NOT include a solution for 1/1/2023. You can view the filed application, current responses and the calendar for future hearings with the Arizona Corporation Commission HERE .

OVERVIEW OF KEY DETAILS FROM EPCOR'S APPLICATION:

TIMEFRAME: At least 24-to-36 months to build separate facilities and construct the water station in order to begin providing service. The timeframe could well exceed 36 months. (pg. 2) NOTE: There is no indication of any water to be supplied January 1st, 2023.
COST FOR WATER: $20 per 1,000 gallons (pg. 7) (NOTE: This does not include the cost for hauling.) Cost will be substantial and result in significantly higher rates than what is currently in effect. (pg. 2)
INFRASTRUCTURE COSTS TO SUPPLY STANDPIPE SERVICE: Likely to be at least $6 million not including land or cost of procuring water resources. Cost could reach $10 to $12 million depending on circumstances. (pg. 3)
WATER SOURCE: Will likely be a combination of groundwater and surface water through various wells that may be the subject of one or more agreements. (pg. 12) A new well will most likely be needed and EPCOR will need to procure water rights separate and apart from the water resources committed for Rio Verde’s water district. (pg. 3)
WATER SERVICE LIMITS:

ONLY for homes that are built as of January 1, 2024. (pg. 11)
ONLY to certain customers in the Foothills area who otherwise may not have access to water. (pg. 11)
For residential water use only, and not for the purposes of irrigating golf courses, ornamental lakes or other aesthetic water features. (pg. 13)
Water haulers may not deliver water from EPCOR at standpipe to any person other than a resident who lives within the service territory of Rio Verde Foothills in a residence that is constructed as of January 1, 2024 and has an account with EPCOR for use within Rio Verde Foothills. (Exhibit 2)
EPCOR reserves the right to terminate a customer’s account if the amount of water received from the standpipe under the customer’s account exceeds twice the median monthly residential usage in the Rio Verde Foothills Community for more than two months in any given calendar year. (Exhibit 2)

NO GUARANTEES: EPCOR is currently exploring multiple alternatives to provide standpipe water service as cost effectively as possible, it can provide no guarantees that any such alternative will prove viable. (pg. 6)
EPCOR STEPS: EPCOR may have to achieve the following (pg. 6/7):

Acquire land for standpipe
Obtain water rights
Possibly drill a new well from which to pump the water needed to physically supply the standpipe
Build infrastructure needed to physically supply the standpipe
Build any other infrastructure needed to ensure an operational standpipe (storage tank, SCADA, arsenic treatment, transmission mains, water station etc.)
Achieve these items while addressing supply chain constraints potential delays in obtaining permits and actually obtaining a site for the water and design the station.

CONSOLIDATION: EPCOR requests the guarantee of consolidation with its larger Sonoran Water District in EPCOR’s next rate case is vital; otherwise, EPCOR cannot proceed. (pg. 8)

HAVE QUESTIONS?

LET'S TALK!

KAREN NABITY 602-299-5222 JENNIFER SIMPSON 602-402-2206

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO HOME SELLERS, BUYERS & REALTORS

If a homeowner signed the petition for the formation of the Rio Verde Foothills DWID (RVF DWID) to have their property included, once the property is SOLD, the buyer (new owner) MUST also sign the RVF DWID petition prior to the possible approval in order for the property to be included in the formation of the RVF DWID. Please call Karen Nabity @ 602-299-5222 or Jennifer Simpson @ 602-402-2206 for more information. NOTE: This only applies to the current petition for the formation of the RVF DWID. Once the RVF DWID is approved, the membership will transfer with the property to new owners moving forward.

WATER HAULER INFO:

IMPORTANT: A water hauler IS NOT A SOURCE OF WATER but holds a permit to pick up and deliver water. Currently, Cave Creek, Phoenix, EPCOR in both Rio Verde proper and New River/Anthem do not allow water haulers to pull their water out of their service area and deliver it to residents in the Rio Verde Foothills Community. Access to Scottsdale's water stops at the end of 2022.

Now the US Bureau of Reclamation is requiring an additional 2 to 4 million acre feet (This equals 651 BILLION to 1.3 TRILLION gallons of water) to be left in the Colorado River system. Arizona will take a significant cutback to its water from Central Arizona Project (CAP) which supplies water from the Colorado River.

Due to this, it is expected that the majority of Cities and water utilities that rely on CAP water will restrict use of their water for other areas. This will leave the water haulers very limited options for hauling water to RVF.