Scottsdale will not open water supply to Rio Verde Foothills past Jan. 1

[Wonder Why]

7. The water wars began many years ago

Back in '82 when we lived in NM, this was the big news:

https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/11/us/el-paso-suing-over-bar-to-new-mexico-water.html

In Texas, you could buy and sell water rights like oil rights. When you buy land, it either came with or without water rights. If you had water rights on your land, you could sell those without selling the land then sell the land separately. El Paso needed water and water rights were expensive. In NM, the State Engineer decided who can drill wells and, except for personal use homes, you had to ask the State Engineer for the right to drill wells. El Paso wanted to dig big wells in NM and pipeline the water to feed its growing size without paying the higher costs of buying rights in Texas. The NM State Engineer refused and it went to the Courts. El Paso lost the case.