Water supply issues are hindering Buckeye's growth
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Buckeye's explosive housing growth has been hindered for the past two years by restrictions on state approval of new subdivisions based on groundwater supplies. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images
Buckeye is missing one key ingredient to continue its astounding growth — water.
Catch up quick: In 2023, Gov. Katie Hobbs announced the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) would halt groundwater certifications for new housing subdivisions in rapidly growing Buckeye and Queen Creek.
- State law requires new subdivisions in urban areas to prove they have 100-year water supplies.
- Based on an ADWR study, Arizona no longer grants those certifications in Buckeye based on groundwater alone, largely closing to the door to new housing development.
Why it matters: The policy bombshell means Buckeye must find other water supplies before most homebuilding can resume.
"We've lost two years' worth of homebuilding and infrastructure being put in place. It just gums up everything," Mayor Eric Orsborn told Axios.
- He noted that the new policy "has meant essentially a wholesale stop in growth in Tartesso," one of Buckeye's hottest-selling communities.
- And amenities like grocery stores won't come into some of the growing communities until more housing is assured.
Reality check: There are about 10,000 unbuilt homes in Buckeye that already have 100-year certificates from before the 2023 restrictions.
- Yes, but: Many of those unbuilt houses are "stranded," Orsborn said, explaining that the certified homes can't be built without new infrastructure that developers can't afford until other new houses are approved.
- ADWR has approved two 100-year certificates since the 2023 policy based on non-groundwater sources, which will allow construction on 804 lots, per agency spokesperson Shauna Evans.
- Evans noted that Buckeye has several isolated water systems, "so what works for one may not necessarily work for the others."
Between the lines: Orsborn said Buckeye has expanded its water portfolio through methods like recharging wastewater and buying water from the nearby Harquahala basin.
- Evans said the agency expects to receive an Alternative Designation of Assured Water Supply (ADAWS) application from Buckeye soon that would allow it to use effluent water to offset groundwater use in the Tartesso system.
- And the city is considering other potential sources. Orsborn noted that Salt River Project wants to expand Bartlett Dam, and there's long been talk of a desalination plant.
- The city is also open to purchasing water like Queen Creek did from landowners along the Colorado River.
What we're watching: The Home Builders Association of Central Arizona sued ADWR in January to overturn the groundwater restrictions.
- GOP lawmakers are again running "ag-to-urban" legislation that would allow groundwater from retired farmland to be used as an assured supply for new housing, which uses less water.
- Hobbs vetoed a similar bill last year.
- ADWR is also considering an ag-to-urban program.