Drought could derail developments in Arizona

Water is essential to both development and the people who will utilize developments once they’re completed. That’s making Arizona a more difficult place to build as a decades-long drought dries up the West.

The Arizona Department of Water Resources is probing an underground basin linked to a massive Howard Hughes Corporation project in Buckeye, the Wall Street Journal reported. Officials are studying if the groundwater supply is enough to support the population for the next century.

In 1980, the state established “active management areas” to regulate water use around Phoenix and Tucson. In those areas, builders need a state certificate demonstrating the presence of a 100-year supply of water for new subdivisions.

The master planned community, Teravalis, is the largest development in state history, according to the developer. Howard Hughes purchased 37,000 acres in a valley near Phoenix for $600 million, planning 100,000 homes and 55 million square feet of commercial space. If the state finds there isn’t enough water to support the community, however, the project will likely need to be scaled back.

Executives for the developer said a water permit is in place for the first village, which consists of 7,000 home sites. Importing water is likely not an option for the developer, as costs are prohibitive.

The Department of Water Resources flagged Teravalis and a PulteGroup project for having deficiencies related to its application for the state certificate.

Developers in the region are facing more obstacles from the government to build as water supply concerns continue to spread. In Oakley, Utah, there is a moratorium on new building permits requiring a city water connection.

Town officials in Buckeye don’t share the same concerns as the state’s water workers. Buckeye officials believe there is plenty of groundwater available in the city and claimed the state’s estimates for the future are too conservative.

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— Holden Walter-Warner