In Pinal County, housing construction has not stopped, even as subdivisions with enough water for construction are steadily depleting.
In fact, the number of residential units in the county increased by an estimated 3.5% from 2021 to 2022. Fastest speed in Arizona And one of the fastest in the country.
But industry advocates warn that strong demand could lead to: turn into an economic disaster When developers exhaust this already approved housing supply.
They also say it will be nearly impossible for homebuilders to add new projects to the pipeline because the state currently requires them to secure renewable energy supplies before getting permits to build homes. There are some people.
But what if finding those supplies isn't as impossible as some people think?
DR Houghton contract is missing key details
Homebuilder DR Horton recently signed its largest private water contract with Gila River Water Storage (commonly known as GRWS, pronounced “Growth”).
GRWS is a partnership A partnership between the Gila River Indian Community and the Salt River Project to support home construction and industrial projects using renewable water, which the tribe obtains by storing Colorado River water underground. This is done in the form of credits.
This water is still considered Colorado River water when pumped, and the state has long allowed builders to use it. long term storage credit As evidence of renewable water supply.
This is what makes it potentially attractive to builders, even if few people have ever used it.
Probably enough water for 4,000 homes?
Most of the contract's key details, including where the water might be used and how much the company paid for it, are locked behind non-disclosure agreements.
Dr. Horton did not respond to requests for comment.
But there are some things we can infer from what we know.
DR Horton — via water acquisition company Vidler Purchased in 2022 — You have the option to obtain up to 205,000 acre-feet of long-term storage credits from GRWS over a 10-year period.
State law requires developers to prove they have enough water for 100 years, which equates to about 2,000 acre-feet of water per year.
That could be enough water to build more or less about 4,000 homes somewhere in Pinal County.
That could change things in Pinal County.
While this is important, it still does not solve the housing imbalance.
Reports suggest Arizona could be short 100,000 to 250,000 homes, depending on how you count.
But 4,000 homes would certainly improve development prospects for Pinal County and perhaps other parts of the Phoenix metropolitan area.
Stop growing to save water?that's the wrong question
Following the deal with DR Horton, GRWS still has approximately 800,000 acre-feet of long-term storage credits available for sale.
Approximately 370,000 of these are located in the Pinal Groundwater Activity Management Area. The rest will be stored in Phoenix AMA.
If other developers follow in Horton's footsteps, thousands more homes could be powered by renewable water sources instead of finite groundwater.
Which growth do we want?
There is no silver bullet, but smart growth
To be sure, these GRWS credits could have a limited impact on Buckeye and other areas of Phoenix's West Valley. In these areas, renewable water must be found and constructed because the tribes do not have water stored nearby.
The amount of water the Gila River Indian Community will pour into GRWS in the future will depend on other factors, including efforts to leave more water in Lake Mead and the community's desire to use more water on their land. may be limited by factors such as
Long-term storage credits are not a silver bullet to lift the governor's “moratorium” on households that pump groundwater and pay to replenish it later.
But the deal with DR Houghton suggests it's a viable option to build more of the housing we need without relaxing existing water supply standards, which some fear are doing.
Contact All Hands joanna.allhands@arizonarepublic.com. On X (formerly Twitter): @joannaallhands.
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