DEMOCRACY. RIGHT NOW, I’M MATTER OF FACT. TEXAS AND ARIZONA ARE SEEING A POPULATION BOOM. SEVEN OF THE NATION’S TEN FASTEST GROWING CITIES ARE IN THOSE TWO STATES. WARM WEATHER, MORE AFFORDABLE LIVING, AND A QUICKLY EXPANDING JOB MARKET ARE DRAWING NEW RESIDENTS. BUT THAT GROWTH IS COMING WITH A CONCERN. IN JUNE, ARIZONA’S DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES RELEASED A REPORT SAYING PARTS OF THE STATE DON’T HAVE ENOUGH GROUNDWATER TO SUPPORT MUCH OF THE ONGOING HOUSING DEVELOPMENT. AND THIS IS ALL HAPPENING DURING A MORE THAN 20 YEAR DROUGHT. OUR CORRESPONDENT DAN LIEBERMAN TAKES US TO ARIZONA TO MEET SOME OF THE STATE’S NEWER RESIDENTS AND A MAYOR IN SEARCH OF ALTERNATE WATER SOURCES. LIKE MOST AMERICANS, I JUST THOUGHT, YOU KNOW, WATER IS A RESOURCE THAT WE HAVE ALWAYS HAD. I NEVER REALLY THOUGHT THAT THE DROUGHT WOULD TAKE THE RUG OUT FROM UNDER US. LEE HARRIS AND FRANK AVRIL PLANNED ON ENJOYING THEIR RETIREMENT YEARS IN RIO VERDE FOOTHILLS, A SCENIC DESERT COMMUNITY JUST OUTSIDE SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA. IT’S BEAUTIFUL HERE. IT’S JUST SURROUNDED BY NATURE AND TRAILS. THE COMMUNITY OF MORE THAN 2000 PEOPLE IS NOT CONNECTED TO THE PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM, SO IT RELIES ON HAULED WATER FROM THE CITY OF SCOTTSDALE AMID A 22 YEAR DROUGHT, SCOTTSDALE DIDN’T HAVE ANY WATER TO SPARE, SO IN DECEMBER 2022, IT DECIDED TO STOP DELIVERING WATER. THE WATER HAULERS HAD TO START DRIVING FURTHER AND FURTHER IN ORDER TO GET CLEAN POTABLE WATER TO BRING TO OUR HOMES, AND THAT COST A LOT OF MONEY. SO YOUR WATER BILL WENT FROM FROM WHAT? TO WHAT? WE WERE PAYING ABOUT $130 A MONTH. IT WENT UP TO $440 PER MONTH. ALTHOUGH RIO VERDE HAS SINCE FOUND A SOURCE THAT DOESN’T COST QUITE AS MUCH, RESIDENTS WATER BILLS ARE STILL HIGH AND FORCING LEE AND FRANK TO ALWAYS BE IN EXTREME CONSERVATION MODE. EVERY TIME WE OPEN THAT FAUCET, WE’VE TRAINED OURSELVES TO SEE MONEY COMING OUT. THEY SPENT NEARLY $20,000 ON THEIR OWN RAINWATER FILTRATION SYSTEM. WE HAD TO FIND JOBS, AND AT OUR AGE, WE SHOULD HAVE REALLY BEEN RETIRED BY NOW AND ENJOYING, YOU KNOW, OUR START OF OUR GOLDEN YEARS. RIO VERDE’S WATER CRISIS HIGHLIGHTS GROWING CONCERN OVER RAPID DEVELOPMENT IN CITIES AROUND PHOENIX, GROWTH THAT HAS CONTINUED EVEN AS WATER SUPPLIES LESSEN. THERE’S A TREMENDOUS PRESSURE TO GET DEVELOPMENT MOVING AGAIN AND MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE HOMES FOR THE PEOPLE THAT ARE MIGRATING TO THE METRO PHOENIX AREA. ERIC ORSBORN IS THE MAYOR OF BUCKEYE, ARIZONA, A FARMING COMMUNITY 45 MINUTES OUTSIDE PHOENIX BETWEEN 2010 AND 2020, WE WERE THE FASTEST GROWING CITY IN THE UNITED STATES. IF WE CONTINUE TO GROW IN 100 YEARS, WE’LL BE SHORT OF WATER. IN AN EFFORT TO PREVENT A WATER SHORTAGE, CITY OFFICIALS ARE SCRAMBLING TO FIND WATER SOURCES LIKE RECYCLING WASTEWATER. THE WASTEWATER THAT’S COLLECTED THROUGH THE SEWER SYSTEM GOES THROUGH A PURIFICATION PROCESS WHERE YOU ARE CREATING PURE WATER OUT OF WHAT WAS ESSENTIALLY SEWAGE. AND AS THEY LOOK FOR OTHER SOLUTIONS, CONSTRUCTION ON MORE THAN 100,000 HOMES AND BUCKEYE IS IN LIMBO. YOU HAVE ESSENTIALLY LOTS THAT ARE STRANDED. YOU CAN’T GO IN AND BEGIN BUILDING ON THEM. THE IMPACTS ARE DEVASTATING. SPENCER KAMPS IS A SPOKESPERSON FOR AN ORGANIZATION THAT REPRESENTS ARIZONA DEVELOPERS. HE WARNS THAT THE STALLED HOME CONSTRUCTION COULD EVENTUALLY LEAD TO AN AFFORDABILITY CRISIS. IN A STATE WHERE HOUSING PRICES ARE ALREADY GOING UP. ANYTIME YOU LIMIT THE SUPPLY, YOU’RE GOING TO CAUSE SIGNIFICANT COST INCREASES. WE’VE SEEN INCREASES IN THE COST OF LAND ANYWHERE FROM 25 TO 40% RIGHT AWAY. THIS CRISIS IS RIGHT NOW. HOW DO YOU GET OUT OF IT? WE NEED TO GO FIND ADDITIONAL WATER SUPPLIES. AND IN THE SHORT TERMS, THERE ARE NONE IN THE LONG TERME THERE MIGHT BE. BUT THESE STALLED PROJECTS CAN’T SIT FOREVER. WHAT WE’RE STARTING TO REALIZE IS THAT INSTEAD OF THINKING ABOUT WATER AS A SUPPLY PROBLEM, YOU CAN THINK ABOUT IT AS A DEMAND PROBLEM. ANDREA GERLAK IS THE DIRECTOR OF THE UDALL CENTER FOR STUDIES IN PUBLIC POLICY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA IN TUCSON. SHE SAYS DEVELOPERS MAY HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD TO TRULY ADDRESS THE WATER PROBLEM. THE NEXT WAVE OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN THE WEST ISN’T GOING TO LOOK LIKE THE FIRST WAVE, WHICH WAS THIS COOKIE CUTTER BIG LOTS. THERE’S NOT ENOUGH WATER, AND IT’S GOING TO BE TOO EXPENSIVE TO BRING IT TO ALL OF THOSE PLACES. FOR LEE AND FRANK, THERE, COMMUNITIES UNCERTAIN FUTURE HAS THEM QUESTIONING WHETHER MOVING TO THE DESERT WAS THE RIGHT DECISION. IF YOU KNEW WHAT YOU KNEW TODAY, WOULD YOU STILL MAKE THE DECISION TO LIVE IN THIS PLACE? IF I HAD KNOWN BACK THEN WHAT I KNOW NOW, WE PROBABLY WOULDN’T HAVE BECAUSE IT OBVIOUSLY IS GOING TO KEEP US TRAPPED IN A SITUATION WHERE ECONOMICALLY WE’RE GOING TO HAVE TO WORK FOR A VERY LONG TIME. BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, WHEN WE WAKE UP EVERY MORNING AND WE LOOK OUT AT THE VIEWS, OUR HEAR