PHOENIX – An Arizona-based conservation group is suing the state’s water resources director over concerns about a large housing development in Cochise County.
The Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit against Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) Director Tom Buschatzke on Aug. 4, citing concerns that the city of Benson’s groundwater supply is below the standard for new housing as required under state law.
At the center of the complaint is the Village of Vigneto, a development that includes plans for 28,000 homes. The Tuscany-inspired, master-planned community will span 13,000 acres and have a golf course once completed.
Robin Silver, co-founder of the Center for Biological Diversity, told KTAR News 92.3 FM the project was approved using outdated information.
Is the water supply enough for Benson housing development?
A 100-year supply is required for a Designation of Adequate Water Supply. The lawsuit asks the court to compel ADWR to review the designation for Benson and determine whether it should be modified or revoked.
According to Silver, ADWR approved the Village of Vigneto based off a water designation from 2008.
“The law says that they need to reevaluate these designations once there’s new information available or after 15 years have passed. Well, in Benson’s case both those things have happened,” he said.
In addition to the housing development, plans are in the works for Aluminum Dynamics to build an aluminum processing plant in Benson. Silver believes this will further deplete the groundwater supply.
“There’s not enough water to develop a 28,000-home development in that area, much less an aluminum processing plant,” he said.
The impact of a groundwater shortage would be felt beyond the city of Benson.
Groundwater supply shortage could threaten San Pedro River
The San Pedro River, the last of the free-flowing rivers in the entire desert Southwest, needs the area’s groundwater to keep flowing.
“There’s multiple hydrological studies that show connection between their (the city of Benson’s) groundwater pumping and damage to the San Pedro River,” Silver said.
The area is home to the 57,000-acre San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (SPRNCA). It received federal protection from Congress in 1988 because it’s one of the most important bird migration corridors in the Western Hemisphere and is now managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
The San Pedro River and SPRNCA are home to millions of songbirds that populate the western United States. If the San Pedro River is sucked dry due to overpumping of groundwater, the songbirds in Phoenix might disappear with it, Silver said.
While the lawsuit is against Buschatzke, Silver said his Tucson-based group’s problem is with Gov. Katie Hobbs because ADWR is an executive agency at her direction.
Silver said he doesn’t understand why Hobbs created Active Management Area groundwater protections for Wilcox but not nearby Benson, although that concern isn’t part of the lawsuit.
Buschatzke declined to comment on the pending litigation.
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