More than 500 homes in this affluent desert community that boasts mountain views, ample trees and ranches hidden in the crooks of scrubby hills will run out of water by the end of the year as the region is gripped by a severe shortage of water.
As the deadline to stop water deliveries looms closer, residents of Rio Verde have been trying for years to resolve the crisis, but have been unable to.
Karen Nabity has lived in Rio Verde Foothills for seven years. Some people will borrow water from a friend's well, others will have to pay a water company.
As climate change makes the western United States hotter and drier, the looming crisis in Rio Verde Foothills illustrates how cities and states could be forced to compete for less natural resources.
Most residents in the unincorporated community of 2,200 homes get their water from private wells, even though they don't have their own water system. More than 500 homeowners rely on trucks to deliver water from a standpipe. Some 200 people who have wells that are running dry occasionally use the water haulers.
The Rio Verde homeowners were told a year ago that their water supply would be limited to city dwellers.
The notice came almost a decade after the city asked Rio Verde residents to look for an alternative water source.
The Central Arizona Project delivers water from the Colorado River to central and southern Arizona in order to reduce its consumption. Reducing their usage is a first step towards more strict restrictions.
The contingency plan was activated after the federal Bureau of Reclamation declared a "Tier 1 shortage" for the first time. The amount of water Arizona, Nevada and Mexico can get from the river has been reduced. Tier 3 is the most severe as river levels go down.
Some Rio Verde residents don't know how long it would have taken for the issue to be resolved.
"It's a priority because why wouldn't we want to solve this problem?" said Jenny Simpson, who moved to Rio Verde Foothills 23 years ago.
The problem is not fixed because they are not water providers. The first priority is to their own residents, so they have no other choice.
The impending cutoff will translate into higher costs to have water shipped in from locations at least 60 miles away.
Property owners banded together to try to solve the problem by creating their own water improvement district. The plan was scrapped this year because the majority of residents didn't want the proposal because it could lead to some of their properties being condemned to build a new water delivery system.
Nick Debus is a spokesman for the Arizona Corporation Commission, a state agency that regulates private water.
The utility would have to acquire land, build a standpipe and drill a new well if the project is approved.
According to the application, the rates for Rio Verde residents would go up to $20 for 1000 gallons of water delivered. According to the NBC affiliate in Phoenix, residents of nearby Glendale pay 33 cents for the same amount as the average resident in the city of Scottsdale. Residents of Rio Verde say they use 48 million gallons of water a year.
The commission asked the utility to provide water for residents, who would foot the bill for the project, causing the rates to go up. The proposed district wouldn't give water to homes built before the year 2024.
Adam Zingg, a resident of Rio Verde Foothills, said that he prefers Epcor over a water improvement district because it would create more government.
The community needs to find a solution. We would be up in arms if there was no water.
Many Rio Verde residents feel like they are forgotten.
Simpson has been a resident for 23 years. We're still waiting.
The article was first published on NBC News.
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