Joe DuhownikPHOENIX (CN) — Arizona’s Department of Water Resources released a draft proposal Wednesday that it says will conserve water and promote new housing construction by converting farmland into urban developments.The so-called “Ag-to-Urban,” plan would allow farmers in areas of Phoenix and Pinal County that require active management of groundwater to relinquish groundwater rights in exchange for credits of physical water availability, then sell the land and water rights to land developers to build new communities with a lower water demand than the farming operations.“We’re unlocking a large amount of water to work the way you need to,” advisor to the department director Ben Bryce told stakeholders in a public meeting Wednesday morning.By reducing large, often unreplenished agricultural groundwater use with lower-demand urban developments, the department estimates it can save millions of acre-feet of water over the next 100 years while keeping up with a growing housing demand.“We don’t want to get rid of one unreplenished use to replace it potentially with a different one,” Bryce said. “We’re trying to patch the holes in the bucket and move toward holistic groundwater management.”Unlike most parts of the state, new developments in the Phoenix and Pinal County active management areas must receive a designation of assured water supply, typically by proving the existence of a 100-year supply of groundwater beneath the pre-developed land.But in 2023, amid concerns of dwindling aquifers, Democratic Governor …
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