Statement on the Determination of Transportation of Groundwater from Harquahala Basin

The Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) has determined that applications submitted by the City of Buckeye and the Town of Queen Creek to transport groundwater from certain lands within the Harquahala Irrigation Non-Expansion Area (INA) meet the statutory requirements for transportation. 

ADWR has issued determinations that will allow Buckeye to withdraw up to 5,926 acre-feet per year for up to 110 years, not to exceed a total of 592,592 acre-feet, of groundwater and Queen Creek to withdraw up to 5,000 acre-feet per year for up to 110 years, not to exceed a total of 500,000 acre-feet, of groundwater from the Harquahala INA for use within their respective service areas.

The determinations find that the groundwater withdrawals will not cause unreasonably increasing damage to residents of surrounding land and other water users in the INA as the projected storage depletion in the transportation scenario is nearly identical and slightly less than the projected storage depletion in the “business as usual” scenario.

State law generally prohibits groundwater transportation into an initial active management area (AMA) from another groundwater basin in Arizona, unless there is a statutory exception (Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.) § 45-551) (1991).  A.R.S. § 45-554 sets forth the requirements for transporting groundwater from the Harquahala INA to an initial AMA.

On February 28, 2024, Buckeye and Queen Creek each submitted applications to ADWR for approval to withdraw volumes of groundwater from certain lands within the Harquahala INA for transportation to the Phoenix AMA for use within their water service areas, pursuant to A.R.S. § 45-554(B).  

The application and information related to the Harquahala Valley Water Project can be found here.