By Bob Christie | Daily Independent
PHOENIX — Developers who have seen tens of thousands of potential home sites on the fringes of metro Phoenix stranded because of a lack of an assured water supply are getting a lifeline that resurrects their projects under a deal cut between Republican lawmakers and Gov. Katie Hobbs.
The proposal known as “ag to urban” allows homebuilders to buy water rights from farmers who retire their agricultural land if they promise to use only a certain percentage of the water the farm has been using to supply the new housing.
The agreement was confirmed Wednesday by Sen. T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge, who said both Republican lawmakers and Hobbs “think it’s the most consequential water bill that’s been passed and will get signed since the 1980 Groundwater Act.”
What’s in the deal immediately affects only Maricopa and Pinal counties.
But the legislation contemplates adding the Pima County Active Management Area to the program if a moratorium on new water certificates is put in place by state water regulators, Shope said.
