Cave Creek to buy lot west of Phoenix for groundwater rights

By Jeff Wendt
Mail

The Cave Creek Town Council voted 5-2 on Oct. 21 to approve the purchase of a lot with groundwater rights with Harquahala Valley Landowners LLC.

The purchase is needed due to an expected cut in water supplies coming from the Colorado River. Those cuts are to be decided by the end of 2026, and by January 2027 the U.S. government needs to make an approved allocation of water between the upper and lower basins, with Arizona residing in the lower basin.

By 2027, the town is projecting a 25% cut in water supplied by Central Arizona Project, and a 100% cut in Non-Indian Agriculatural water, according to Utilities Director Shawn Kreuzwiesner. That would put the town under the 2,000 acre-feet per year to meet current customer demands.

The cut in water is an estimate because it is not known what the final cut will be in the Colorado River water supply.

The Harquahala groundwater basin sits west of the Phoenix area and provides a long-term option to both increase water resources and diversify water supplies, Kreuzwiesner said during his presentation to the council.

The agreement is to purchase a lot with 500 acre-feet of groundwater rights annually. A $100,000 earnest payment will be due within five days of the effective date of the agreement with the remaining $11.15 million due by Feb. 15, 2026.

An acre-foot of water represents about 325,000 gallons, or enough for two to three average Valley homes annually.

The agreement allows the town to continue to evaluate the project before final payment.

“The bottom line is we need water and we’re going to need it soon and this is the best way to get it,” Councilmember Thomas McGuire said. “There aren’t many alternatives. There’s a lot that could happen, but there’s not much that’s likely to happen. Water is security, and this is the most secure deal we can get.”

“We need water to drink and this water at Harquahala is drinking water,” Councilmember Joe Freedman said. “We’re not talking about building with it we’re talking about drinking water for the citizens of this town, and that’s what we owe you guys, and there are no alternatives going into a serious crisis right now.”

Councilmember Dusty Rhoades had concerns about the agreement.

“We’re buying an acre of land for 11 million bucks and paper water for 500 acre-feet-a-year for 100 years,” Rhoades said. “We have no idea what the transportation costs are. We have no idea what the pumping costs are going to be. We have no idea what any of the other associated costs are going to be. And it’s a little bit premature to be going whole hog into something when we don’t know all the costs.”

Councilmember Tom Augherton expressed similar concerns to that of Rhoades.

“I think for me, the concern I have is the larger cost to the community,” Augherton said. “With 5,000 people and a $57 million annual budget, at some point, I don’t know that we’re living beyond our means or spending beyond our means or trying to keep up with the larger communities. This project is a solution to hypergrowth, and we don’t have hypergrowth yet here in Cave Creek”

The town does have some longterm unused CAP storage credits in place, according to Kreuzwiesner, and could help bridge the gap for a few years. The town also could look into reactiviating some of its older wells. That could buy some time as well, but water quality and volumetiric issues could come into play.

Kreuzwiesner is looking into short-term solutions for the town such as water conservation through public education and outreach, looking into restarting the existing Cave Creek wells, and hopefully to do some water banking with CAP, putting another 600 acre-feet into the ground, which drops to 300 after losing the NIA water.

Michelle Van Quathem, an Arizona water attorney, talked about one of the pros of the agreement is being involved with towns in a similar situation as Cave Creek.

“A pro I would say is that we’ve got the city of Buckeye, town of Queen Creek and the State Land Department as participants that all have similar needs and desires for this water project to succeed,” Quathem said.

Jeff Wendt
Reporter | Phoenix/Cave Creek

jwendt@iniusa.org

Meet Jeff
Jeff Wendt started at Independent Newsmedia in January 2023, after 25 years working for Gannett and The Arizona Republic. Started as a high school sports scoretaker, worked up to reporting high school sports and then became an associate high school sports editor in 2002. Also worked in the Design Studio as a copy editor.

Community: Jeff serves on the Board of Elders at his local church.

Education: Arizona State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication

Random fact: Attended Game 2 of the 2001 World Series.

Hobbies: Playing video games (yes still the kid in me), watching reality TV, playing poker.