Buckeye, Queen Creek look for ways to curb groundwater dependence

The newly enacted agriculture-to-urban water program aimed at allowing more home construction in outlying Valley cities and towns such as Buckeye and Queen Creek is easing but not solving the issue of groundwater supply.

In 2023, the state announced it would no longer issue permits for new construction in the Valley’s outlying areas as a groundwater analysis showed there is not enough to meet the state-mandated assurance of a 100-year supply. The assurances are needed before construction can commence.

In July, Gov. Katie Hobbs signed the so-called “Ag-to-Urban” bill that allows farm owners to convert their groundwater rights into credits for residential use.

As residential uses less water than agriculture, those looking at the bill say it can offer a lifeline for growth and save water.

“This reserves far less groundwater than farming, creating long-term savings in the aquifer. Within the Phoenix (active management areas) alone, the legislation is expected to save more than 7 million acre-feet of water over the next century,” according to a statement from the city of Buckeye. The Independent reached out to the city of Buckeye to interview Water Resources Director Terry Lowe. He was unavailable for comment and the city sent a statement instead.

But the program has limitations, particularly for medium- to high-density development.

After the state issued the moratorium in 2023, Queen Creek stated the requirement would impact a small number of undeveloped properties in the town that did not have an assured water supply.

One of those affected was Rittenhouse Commons 2, a 166-lot, single-family townhome community.

Originally, the townhomes were meant to be sold, but the project was sidelined by the moratorium. Eventually the owner of Rittenhouse Commons 2, Arcus Private Capital Solutions, could not file a final plat for a residential subdivision because it could not obtain a water certificate and had to file a site plan instead.

As a result, the owner made the townhomes available for sale and rent, a change the Queen Creek Town Council approved in June, just days before the Ag-to-Urban bill was announced.

Not that it would have made a difference for Rittenhouse 2.

“My understanding is that Ag-to-Urban bill only helps projects at around three units to the acre or less, more like traditional single-family subdivisions,” said Sean Lake of the law firm Pew & Lake, which is representing the developers of the townhome community. “This is a townhome project, which is more dense, so it wouldn’t have helped it. The only option this site had was what the council had decided to move forward to allow for rent. Otherwise, they they’d still be in a moratorium.”

As Queen Creek’s Water Resource Director Paul Gardner explained, the agriculture-to-urban deal allows for 1.5 acre-foot per acre of water to be used.

The Arizona Department of Water Resources states that “1 acre-foot is typically enough water to serve (three) single-family homes for a year.”

That leaves Buckeye and Queen Creek looking for more ways to diversify their water portfolios beyond groundwater.

In July, the Arizona Department of Water Resources approved applications from Buckeye and Queen Creek to transport groundwater from the Harquahala Valley.

The approval allows Buckeye to withdraw up to 5,926 acre-feet per year for up to 110 years, and Queen Creek to withdraw up to 5,000 acre-feet per year for up to 110 years of groundwater from the region west of the Valley.

“The city has made major investments to secure future water supplies, including an $80 million purchase of water rights in the Harquahala Valley, adding nearly 600,000 acre-feet to Buckeye’s long-term portfoliom," the city stated. "With ADWR’s approval of the first-ever transportation order to move that water to Buckeye, the city is taking proactive steps to ensure sustainable growth for generations to come.”

Earlier this year, Queen Creek closed on the purchase of the 5,000 acre-feet of Harquahala water for $40 million. In September, the town approved a purchase agreement for an additional 1.2 million acre-feet of Harquahala water, or almost 39 billion gallons, over the next 110 years in increments of 12,000-acre feet per year.

By approving the agreement, the town locked in a price of $20,000 per acre-foot if it purchases access to the entire 1.2 million acre-feet of water by Feb. 15, 2026 — a one-time cost of $240 million.

Later this month the council will vote on a funding mechanism for the purchase.

For Queen Creek, the Harquahala purchase is an important part of the town’s overall goal of becoming a designated water provider, eliminating its dependence on the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District, or CAGRD.

“We believe this will get us to about 70% of the water supply that we need for buildout and will allow us to become designated. And then when the Bartlett Dam project comes online, that will get us 100% to the finish line of being 100% off of groundwater,” Gardner said in September.

Bartlett Dam is located on the Verde River northeast of Phoenix. The SRP-led project could potentially raise the dam by about 100 feet to increase water storage capacity.

In 2023, the town began receiving 2,033 acre-feet of Colorado River water per year in perpetuity from Cibola, Arizona. The town made a one-time payment of $24 million for the water rights.

Gardner said the goal is to start the application to become a designated water provider in January 2026 and receive the official designation by January 2027.

Becoming a designated water provider is one, though important, solution to the state-mandated 100-year water supply certification developers need to create more housing.

“The Queen Creek council is doing more than any (town) I know to address that issue,” Lake said. “So, kudos to Queen Creek because they’re really trying to solve it, but it’s a big, heavy lift to do it and expensive.”

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