The Arizona Department of Water Resources started accepting applications Friday from farmers who operate in areas where groundwater is protected.
The program is called ag-to-urban. It lets farmers sell their land and groundwater rights to housing developers.
The idea of ag-to-urban is to increase the state housing supply and conserve groundwater, because housing uses far less water than agriculture per acre. The legislation passed with bipartisan support last session and goes into effect now.
Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs touted the bill as “the most consequential piece of groundwater conservation legislation since the 1980 Groundwater Management Act.”
Hobbs’ office also projected that ag-to-urban “is projected to conserve nearly 10 million acre-feet over its lifetime and facilitate the development of tens of thousands of new homes.”
But ag-to-urban is a voluntary program, so its effectiveness depends on how many farmers choose to participate.
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Cities around the Phoenix area are reducing their take on the Colorado River and leaving water in Lake Mead. Millions of dollars from the Inflation Reduction Act are helping ease the pain. -
Flagstaff, like many cities, has a housing problem. It’s long ranked alongside cities like Sedona for the most expensive places to live in Arizona. And the city faces particular challenges that get in the way of building affordable housing. -
Mack Real Estate Group CEO Richard Mack says there are around 1,500 suppliers doing business with TSMC that may want front-row access to its only manufacturing site in the U.S. The job of Halo Vista is to to draw in those companies. -
Mayes first filed a lawsuit against the park last year. She said management didn’t tell residents about a faulty electrical system, which led to frequent power outages during dangerous summer heat. -
To accommodate the University of Arizona’s new requirement for most first-time, full-time students to live on campus starting this fall, university officials recently broke ground on a new dormitory.
