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Deal To Buy Colorado River Water For Queen Creek Moves Forward

The town of Queen Creek will be getting more water from the Colorado River under a new deal approved by the Arizona Department of Water Resources.

Under the deal, Queen Creek would get about 1,100 acre-feet of Colorado River water each year to help the town of about 42,000 people continue to grow.

In La Paz and Yuma Counties, this water is necessary for agriculture — and an investment company, which owns the rights to the water, stands to make a significant profit off the sale. That’s something La Paz County Supervisor Holly Irwin says is completely wrong, because it sets a precedent that any high bidder can take as much water as they please.

The Secretary of the Interior will make the final decision about the water deal in the coming weeks.

Scott Bourque was a reporter and podcast producer at KJZZ from 2019 to 2022.