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Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025

Did Buckeye and Queen Creek secure a 110-year deal to buy water from the Harquahala Basin?

Tallulah Anne, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting
yes

In July 2025, Arizona water officials approved a transportation order allowing Buckeye and Queen Creek to pump groundwater from the Harquahala Basin for 110 years.

The Arizona basin spans La Paz and Maricopa counties, and is part of an Irrigation Non-Expansion Area, a designation meant to protect existing farms by preventing new irrigated land. The deal marks the first time cities have been allowed to tap groundwater from one of these restricted areas to support development elsewhere.

Rapid population growth across Arizona has increased demand for affordable housing, intensifying pressure on already limited water supplies. To build new homes, developers must prove their projects have access to a reliable 100-year water supply. But recent studies show groundwater across much of Arizona is rapidly declining.

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The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is the state’s only independent, nonpartisan and collaborative nonprofit newsroom dedicated to statewide, data-driven investigative reporting. AZCIR's mission is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable by exposing injustice and systemic inequities through investigative journalism.

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