In unincorporated Maricopa County, a seller of five or fewer parcels of unsubdivided land, along with any later seller of one of those parcels, has to give the buyer a sworn disclosure affidavit at least seven days before the property transfers. Item nine asks whether water has to be trucked to the property. If it does, the seller has to name the current hauler, the hauler's phone number, and the name and location of the water supply. The buyer then has five days to rescind the sale after receiving the affidavit. The full text is in A.R.S. § 33-422.
EPCOR's permanent Rio Verde Foothills standpipe opened on January 1, 2026. It sits at 26788 N 176th Street and runs daily from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. for customers with approved accounts. For a parcel supplied from that station, the station is the water source the affidavit asks the seller to name. Naming the station answers the question the law asks. It doesn't answer the one that sets the property's value, which is whether this particular parcel is allowed to buy water at that station at all.
The answer was settled years before most current listings went live, and it can't be reopened.
How the list closed
Rio Verde Foothills lost its hauled-water supply when Scottsdale cut off deliveries on January 1, 2023. The Arizona Corporation Commission voted on EPCOR's long-term plan on November 29, 2023, and Decision No. 79199 is dated December 12, 2023. EPCOR's certificate covers standpipe water service to the Rio Verde Foothills community and nothing else.
The decision limited who could enroll. Homes occupied as of December 12, 2023 qualified. So did up to 150 more property owners who paid a hookup fee. Every application had to be in by June 1, 2024. EPCOR received more than 150 applications from the second group, so it held an online lottery on October 21, 2024 and drew 150 names. Winners had 45 days from billing to pay the hookup fee.
EPCOR now says service is available only to residents and property owners who went through that enrollment process.
The temporary arrangement that got the community through the gap is gone too. EPCOR water had been routed through Scottsdale's system under the Rio Verde Foothills Standpipe District. That setup ended at midnight on December 31, 2025, when the district sunset, and the permanent station took over the next morning. As of this writing, the most recent ACC docket entry for Decision No. 79199 is a compliance filing dated October 2, 2026. The 2023 decision still sets the rules.
What transfers with the deed, and what can come loose
EPCOR's rules are short, and each one affects how a parcel should be priced:
- Eligibility follows the APN. EPCOR tracks it by Assessor's Parcel Number. When an eligible property sells, eligibility goes to the new owner.
- A lot split can change it. EPCOR says that if a parcel changes because of a lot split, its eligibility may change too.
- Water can't leave the approved parcel. Standpipe water may be used only on approved, eligible properties. Moving it outside the community or to unapproved properties violates ACC rules.
Taken together, these rules mean two lots that look alike on a listing can be very different purchases. On one, water rights pass to the buyer at closing. The other has no such right, and current EPCOR policy gives an owner no way to get one. A listing that splits off part of an enrolled parcel deserves a direct question about which piece keeps the APN EPCOR has on file.
Shared tanks, which are common out here, add another layer. EPCOR requires a separate account for every property on a shared tank, and all of them must have the same service type. Water bought under a shared PIN is billed to whoever owns that PIN. A buyer moving into a shared-tank setup is effectively joining an arrangement with the neighbors, so it pays to understand that arrangement before closing.
What an enrolled parcel costs to run
Enrollment gives an owner the right to buy water. It doesn't make the water cheap. EPCOR's posted rates under Decision No. 79199 come in two service types:
| Full Service | Standby Service | |
|---|---|---|
| Designed for | Regular hauling or using a hauler | Access without needing water every month |
| Monthly base charge | $75.00 | $25.00 |
| Water use, as listed | $16.28 per 1,000 gallons | $225.00 plus $16.28 per 1,000 gallons |
| EPCOR's example bill at 3,200 gallons a month | About $127.10 | About $277.10 |
EPCOR uses 3,200 gallons a month as the community average for those example bills. Owners can switch service types only once every 13 months. That's a meaningful limit for a buyer who closes in the off-season and expects to use more water once the household is fully settled in.
EPCOR's bill covers only the water. Anyone who uses a hauler gets a separate bill, often on a different schedule. EPCOR lists Dynamite Water, Rio Verde Water and Water Express among the insured haulers customers can use, says it can't recommend one over another, and also allows self-hauling once an owner completes a safety orientation and receives a gate code. We didn't find a current published per-load price from any hauler. During the 2023 shortage, PHOENIX magazine reported that one hauler's per-gallon price had climbed to 11 to 12 cents, which worked out to about $440 for a 4,000-gallon tank. That figure reflects crisis conditions and shouldn't be used to budget today. Buyers should get a current written quote during the inspection period.
Usage caps matter most for acreage buyers. Accounts that use more than twice the median residential amount for two months in a row can be disconnected. EPCOR says customers with higher needs, livestock for example, can ask it to review their limit. On an equestrian property, that review should be part of due diligence, not something to request after the horses arrive.
Where the paperwork can be wrong
Wells are the other way a Foothills parcel gets water, and EPCOR confirms that owners can still drill one through the Arizona Department of Water Resources. ADWR's own warnings about its records match closely the problems EPCOR's lot-split rule raises. The agency says its well registry can be out of date, may not reflect parcel splits, and can miss wells that were never registered. It can't confirm which water source serves a given parcel, and it recommends inspecting the property in person. ADWR also says the registry is not a legally binding record of ownership.
When a property with a well on it sells, the buyer updates the well record with ADWR Form 55-71A and a $30 fee, along with a parcel map marking the well and a copy of the deed. The form is filed after the transfer, not before. If the property shares a well located on a neighbor's land, no transfer is needed, and ADWR doesn't regulate shared-well agreements. ADWR's imaged files can include the driller's log and a site plan, so it's worth pulling the file for a specific well. We didn't find any recent public data on typical well depths or groundwater trends specific to the Foothills. A well's own file and an inspection are the evidence that counts.
The supply behind the standpipe also differs from what early reports described. Before construction, coverage discussed a station fed by a new groundwater well. EPCOR now says the operating station draws on long-term storage credits set aside for Rio Verde Foothills.
Next door, a regular utility account
The contrast with the master-planned Rio Verde community down the road shows how unusual the Foothills setup is. That community is served by EPCOR's Rio Verde Water District under a standard tariff. Its typical monthly base charge is $12.08, and usage runs $1.41 to $2.47 per 1,000 gallons depending on the tier. Same company, same part of the map, and the water arrives through a pipe that any home in the district can connect to. In the Foothills, access is limited to parcels already on the list.
A verification order before you go under contract
- Get the APN and confirm enrollment with EPCOR before you rely on any listing description. EPCOR handles account questions at [email protected] and 1-800-383-0834.
- Ask whether the parcel has ever been split and whether the APN on file with EPCOR matches the parcel you're buying.
- Read item nine and item ten of the § 33-422 affidavit side by side, so the hauler named and the well or no-well answer line up with what you see on site.
- Confirm the service type and when it last changed, given the 13-month switching window.
- Get a current hauler quote in writing, and if you'll keep livestock, contact EPCOR about a usage review.
- Pull the ADWR well file for any well on the parcel, and plan to file Form 55-71A after closing.
Frequently asked questions
Can a parcel that isn't enrolled sign up now? Under EPCOR's current policy, no. Service is limited to owners who enrolled through the process the ACC set out, and applications closed June 1, 2024.
Does the buyer have to re-qualify after closing? EPCOR says eligibility transfers to the new owner when an eligible property sells.
Is there enough water behind the station? EPCOR says yes and points to long-term storage credits reserved for the Foothills community.
If you're weighing a Rio Verde Foothills parcel, or getting ready to list one, Jennifer Patnode and the Dream Living AZ team can help you confirm water eligibility, service type and well records early in the process, before they show up as surprises during escrow. Request a private consultation, and bring the APN.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
