“With the passage of the Ag-to-Urban legislation and the approval of these first Harquahala water transfers, the State is taking positive steps to address the uncertainty around water availability in Maricopa and Pinal counties. This will help drive continued growth in both counties and, particularly in the east and west valley where these water transfers are headed.” –Rose Law Group’s Water Department Chairman, David Johnson
By Howard Fischer | YourValley
State water officials on Friday approved the first-ever legal transfer of water from rural Arizona into one of the state’s “active management areas” that have restrictions on growth.
The Department of Water Resources will allow Buckeye to withdraw up to 5,926 acre-feet of water a year from the Harquahala basin in western Arizona for up to 110 years. That is enough to serve more than 17,000 homes.
In the same order, the agency said Queen Creek can take up to 5,000 acre-feet a year, sufficient to build about 15,000 homes.
All this comes two years after DWR refused to issue any permits for new subdivisions in some areas of both communities after concluding they lacked the legally required 100-year supply of water. That resulted in a lawsuit by the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona, which charged that the agency’s modeling is flawed.
