By Tara Alatorre | The Foothills Focus
Over the past year New River and Desert Hills residents have had to come to grips with some ugly truths threatening their rural way of life when the City of Phoenix decided to shut off the spigots to the community’s water haulers, its main water resource, causing a dire situation in the area.
As residents scrambled to find a solution and secure a water resource, they also watched Phoenix and Maricopa County slowly encroach on its undefined, unincorporated borders by annexing and rezoning land for development, and potentially tapping into the area’s most precious resource – its drought-stricken aquifer.
Residents proved their resilience and tenacity by brokering a deal with the private utility company EPCOR and the community of Anthem to build a water station, so water deliveries could resume; all while rallying community members to attend public meetings and voice their opposition to planned developments in their neighborhoods that impeded on their rural lifestyle.
