(Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Century Communities.)
By Elias Weiss | InMaricopa.com
Arizona’s new “ag-to-urban” water law is now being put to the test south of Maricopa.
The program, touted last year the most consequential Arizona water policy in decades, is drawing its first wave of applicants. Four of nine pending applications statewide are tied to land in the Maricopa Stanfield Irrigation and Drainage District, according to a report published today by The Arizona Republic.
If approved, those applications would retire 334 acres of farmland and convert the associated irrigation rights into groundwater credits that can be applied toward a required certificate of assured water supply.
That certificate has been a roadblock for years.
After updated groundwater models showed parts of Pinal County could not demonstrate a 100-year assured water supply for new homes relying solely on groundwater, major projects stalled. Developers could own land and hold entitlements, but without water certification, construction could not move forward.
