Arizona limits Phoenix-area construction due to water shortage

(Reuters) – The state of Arizona on Thursday restricted future home-building in the Phoenix area due to a lack of water, based on projections showing that wells will run dry under existing conditions.

The measure announced by the Arizona Department of Water Resources stands to slow population growth for the Phoenix Active Management Area, home to 4.6 million people and one of the most rapidly expanding areas of the United States.

The state’s recently concluded data analysis and review found an expected shortfall of 4.86 million acre feet (6 billion cubic meters) in the Phoenix area over the next 100 years.

In response, the state said it will deny new building permits under the Assured Water Supply program, while honoring existing ones and promising current homeowners they would continue to receive water deliveries.

“Communities or developers seeking new Assured Water Supply determinations will need to do so based on alternative water sources,” the Department of Water Resources said in a statement.

Other sources could include farmers or Native American tribes with water rights, but they too are facing short supplies given overuse and a historic drought this century.

Rains this year provided some relief but have not altered expectations for lengthy dry spells in the future.

Decades of groundwater overuse have caught up with Arizona, whose other main water source, the Colorado River, is also under strain.

Arizona along with partner states in the Colorado River Compact last week agreed to reduce their intake from the river by 13% over the next three years as part of a seven-state plan to save a river that provides drinking water for 40 million people, including Phoenix.

The agreement is meant as a bridge to a longer-term deal that Colorado River states will need to reach before the start of 2027.

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