In a few days, thousands of US Citizens will be without any water supply. (And that's a good thing!
I'll try to be brief, but this is actually a decades long story.
To the north of Scottsdale, AZ, there are the McDowell mountains. They are completely arid, no groundwater, springs, rivers, or streams.
It is not part of the city of Scottsdale, it is an un-incorporated area. On purpose. They have, for decades, refused to incorporate themselves, or join the city of Scottsdale. They don't want "big gubmint" telling them what to do.
For decades, they have paid trucking companies to haul water from Scottsdale out to them. They have been getting Scottsdale treated and subsidized water without paying any Scottsdale city taxes.
For over a decade, Scottsdale has been warning them that they need to either join Scottsdale, or find another source of water. They have refused to do either. Dec. 31st, Scottsdale water taps will be closed to them. They are freaking out. "Gov't can't do this to us!!!"
What government? They've refused to have any!
They have done NO preparation.
Now they will find out the consequences of unregulated growth.
Good.
One out there is a horse breeder. How he's going to water those horses heaven only knows.
= new reply since forum marked as read
CT
They'll probably find someone to take their money and truck in water, but it ain't gonna be cheap!
that the cost will at least double, probably triple or more what they are paying now.
On another subject: I got my husband one of those items you recommended a few weeks ago. Or, maybe I should say 'us'. Thanks for the recommendation!!
And ... glad to be of service. Remind me (in DM if appropriate) what I suggested again, I forget now lol ... I have a lot of favorite things 
water directly to my house's water line. Haven't needed a holding tank. My water comes from an underground aquifer that is recharged by rainfall. Thx for the education.
It's Chinatown, except with goobers.
Packing to move this spring; can't take the dumb anymore.
according to the article. They're selling 1,800 sq.ft. homes for $600,000 with no guarantee of water! These people don't believe the county government would let them go without water and will do something to rectify the situation.
Fools and their money....... 
You can count on it (figuratively, not you personally, BumRushDaShow).
Water is the most valuable resource in the area, and people have gone to war for far less.
have no idea how dire it is out west. I remember going to Colorado for a couple week work training session almost 40 years ago and discovering the state had "water rights" and that something as benign and "environmentally friendly" as capturing rain water (including in rain barrels) was illegal because that was diverting it from the ground. 
I just know that those of us on the east coast were and still are perennially insulted and tarred and feathered as being "the Rust Belt", thanks to a decades-long massive P.R. push for people to "leave the east and go west and south" - and particularly to places that could not support that mass population migration in terms of water availability. There is a reason why a place is called a "desert". It's not just a cutesy term describing a different kind of living experience. 
We live on the shores of Lake Ontario, and around a campfire one night the discussion came up about jobs/people leaving New York for warmer climates. I told everyone that they'll all come back someday because of one thing: Water.
It didn't take a genius to see that coming (after all, I saw the writing on the wall, right?) and often told my daughter when she was young, that water would become more precious than gold one day. I tried to steer her toward a college degree in hydrological science, but she had to go get a degree in social sciences, working for a non-profit agency helping low income people find housing, medical services, jobs etc. I couldn't be more proud of the person she's become. 😊
The desert southwest, as beautiful and peaceful as it is, can only support so many people and animals, and we pushed well past that number decades ago. Greedy developers keep bullshitting people, selling the old-west from the turn of the 20th century, but with 21st century problems no one wants to admit to.
There's no easy answer. There might not be an answer at all. Take care, BumRushDaShow.
Caveat emptor seems to be one of the few building laws they abide by. People are buying houses in these wildcat developments with the understanding that they have no legal water rights.
What the hell are these people thinking of?
"Let's go retire in a 🏜 desert where there's no water. We'll be fine." 
As a longtime gardener who had been looking at trying some bougainvillea in pots and reading about the landscaping and environment in AZ as that is a popular plant grown there, I discovered that many there have to deal with these -
This is the kind of stuff they don't tell (out-of-state) people about!!!! 
(and they're not like a regular "pest" that can be sprayed away)
You can't drink pioneer spirit.
I’ll check this out!
up to a point--reduce water use among existing residents. Works for a while. Not really applicable to the Rio Verde situation but in general that's what's going on in e.g. Las Vegas--make the existing water go farther by charging more, getting rid of lawns, etc. Also, ag uses more water per acre than residential, so by converting farmland to houses less water is used.
I put "planners" in quotes because having seen the untalented lot that's approving paving over armpit town yuma (where I'm stuck for now) with a dingy, drab agglomeration of ugly, cheaply built houses and haphazardly located commercial properties, there isn't much higher-level thinking going into the "planning." Also, they are facilitating a smash-and-grab on the aquifer, which means those with wells eventually will be forced into expensive privatized water systems. I'm moving out--can't take the stupid anymore.
