Shadow Hills water war

Patricia Ruffolo had taken a long, hot shower before filling her dog's water dish and heading out to visit her mom. Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.

But when she returned to her rental home last Saturday, at the dawn of the springtime hot spell, she found her water had been shut off -- the latest volley in a bitter and long-running property dispute with a neighbor.

"It's been hell -- (and) hot as hell, and un-American," said Ruffolo, 53, of Shadow Hills, who with her English pointer endured triple-digit temperatures this week under a dry spigot. "No one should go without water."