The state of Arizona has announced restrictions for future home-building in the Phoenix area due to a lack of groundwater, based on projections showing that wells will run dry under existing conditions.
According to reports, the action by the Arizona department of water resources on Thursday is set to slow population growth for the Phoenix region, the state capital, home to 4.6 million people and one of the most rapidly expanding areas of the United States.
The decision is said to underscore the precarious position of Arizona in the face of a “megadrought”, fueled by the climate crisis, that has gripped the US west for the past two decades. Last week the state, along with Nevada and California, agreed to significant cutbacks in the use of water from the Colorado River, which is rapidly shrinking.
Arizona, which is known to be one of the driest states in the US, gets about a third of its water from the Colorado River, with approximately another 40% coming from groundwater sources. The state’s recently concluded analysis projected a water shortfall of 4.86m acre-feet (6bn cubic meters) in the Phoenix area over the next 100 years. In response, the state said it will deny new certificates of Assured Water Supply, which enable home construction.
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The state has imposed such restrictions on other areas, and not all of greater Phoenix requires a certificate, but experts said the measure was certain to slow home-building in an area representing over half the state’s population that has become a magnet for people in the US searching for affordable housing.
“It’s a reality check. We need to have the water supplies in order to grow,” said Sharon Megdal, director of the University of Arizona’s Water Resources Research Center.
The department of water resources was quoted as saying that developers would need to find other sources to build.
Those sources could include officially designated entities that have excess water to sell, or farmers or Native American tribes with water rights, but all are facing short supplies given overuse and a historic drought this century.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
