TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Until this week, a company with zoning approval in Tucson could have relatively unlimited access to Tucson’s water system, even if it was going to use millions of gallons of water.
Now, with the unanimous passage of a new ordinance by the city council, any large water user that wants to gain access to Tucson’s water will have to apply to the city and show its water conservation efforts.
The goal, said Mayor Regina Romero, was to protect the city from large water users like data centers as quickly as possible. “Approving this tonight will help protect us immediately,” Romero said Tuesday.
Details about Tucson water ordinance, data centers
The ordinance comes after weeks of a heady and impassioned debate over Project Blue, a massive and secretive data center proposal that could have used hundreds of millions of gallons of water a year.
To get those gallons, the project had to be annexed into Tucson — a step that also brought its massive water use before the Tucson City Council for review.
Developers promised a “water positive” project, but information about the full scale of the data center as well as its final user were not shared by public officials or the company.
Public outrage fueled by the secrecy and concerns over large water use pushed city council members to reject the annexation proposal at the council’s last study session in August.
Now the new ordinance addresses some of those concerns.
How Tucson water ordinance addresses sustainability concerns
It lays out what large water users must include in an application to access Tucson water, as well as instances in which water service could be suspended. It also requires city council approval of an initial application, and makes all application materials public records.
Tucson’s ordinance passed Tuesday doesn’t go as far as some nearby localities.
Marana, Arizona amended its zoning code in 2024 to include language around data centers.
That language says Marana will not provide potable water to a data center for cooling, humidity control or other similar operations. Any data center applications must include an estimate of annual water consumption for the site, and the intended source of water.
Project Blue proposed using potable water from Tucson for the first several years of the project.
Michael Bogan, a professor and biologist at the University of Arizona who is a water resources researcher, told Arizona Luminaria ahead of the meeting that he welcomed an ordinance that would require public review of new and expanding large water users in Tucson.
He was concerned, however, that the large water user ordinance would only partially protect Tucson from the environmental harms of a future data center.
“The proposed regulation is insufficient for data centers,” he said.
A wave of reform
The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted Monday to initiate a process to potentially add zoning restrictions on large-scale industrial users, with a specific intent to add guardrails to any data center that wants to build in the region.
If implemented, the new process would require additional public engagement and official review. Supervisor Jen Allen, of District 3, who introduced the measure, said it was important to work in tandem with the city of Tucson as they begin their own process of establishing a more thorough review process for proposed data centers.
Allen also said that other jurisdictions in Arizona and across the country have already imposed similar guidelines. Allen said “30 or more” data centers have their sights on Pima County.
Tucson’s ordinance is also not the last word on the large water user rules. The ordinance would then be subject to a six-month public review period, including from the Citizen Water Advisory Committee, to consider adjustments, said Ward 6 council member Karin Uhlich in her newsletter.
Organizers with No Desert Data Center, the group that sprung up quickly and led the public protest against the proposed data center, said they are eager to participate in the public process around the water ordinance but also hoped to see action on stopping power projects until more rules were developed.
“We are encouraged to see Mayor and Council quickly take the necessary step to make sure another large quantity water user won’t be able to connect to Tucson Water without approval,” a statement from the group before the meeting said. “While that’s happening, we would prefer a stronger interim ordinance, like a stop to all large quantity water AND power projects… We all want more jobs for Tucsonans, and together, we can figure out how to make growth sustainable.”
Ward 3 council member Kevin Dahl, who came out early against the data center, said he specifically wanted to bring the No Desert Data Center coalition and the Watershed Management Group into the conversation.
Other speakers on Monday spoke against data centers more broadly.
Liah Caldwell, a resident of Ward 5, said she was proud and encouraged by the city council vote but said this was only the first step to protect water in Tucson. “I am acutely aware that this is a temporary reprieve to protect our limited and most precious resource,” she said. Caldwell added that her own family has seen the consequences of contamination, saying her grandfather’s death was linked to PFAS chemicals from firefighting foam used at the Arizona Air National Guard base and Davis Monthan Air Force Base.
Details of the Tucson water ordinance
The ordinance adds new provisions to the city code for large water users that want to connect to Tucson’s water supply, whether they are a new customer or a current one planning to use more water.
To connect to the city’s water system a user must submit a water service application with a water conservation plan to the Tucson Water director if they expect to use more than 7.4 million gallons of water a month. That counts for new users, or existing Tucson Water customers.
According to city documents, currently no single Tucson Water customer uses this amount of water on an average monthly basis — some golf courses connected to the reclaimed water system may use that much in a year. The average Tucson customer uses 126 gallons a day, according to an analysis from Making Action Possible Southern Arizona.
That water conservation plan must:
- Be submitted at the same time an applicant submits any development requests or water-meter upsizing. That application must also include the phases of construction, and the approximate number and size of structures that will be served
- Have a description of the nature and type of water use and “a reasonable estimate of the projected annual, monthly, and daily water demand”
- Include techniques and technologies that will reduce the consumption of water, reduce the loss or waste of water or improve the efficiency in the use of water
- If the location is within one mile of the Tucson Water Reclaimed Water Distribution System, the plan should include information about the cost of a connection to the Reclaimed Water Distribution System
All of those applications will also be public record, the ordinance says.
Any water service applications and water conservation plans from large water users will also be reviewed during regular city council meetings if the Tucson Water director believes the applicant’s water use has enough economic benefit that is consistent with the city’s economic development plans.
For ongoing oversight, the ordinance says:
- The user must submit an updated water conservation plan to the Tucson Water director every five years
- The director of Tucson Water has final discretion on whether the updated water conservation plan shows the user utilizing water as effectively as possible.
- The user is prohibited from using water in excess of 120% of the amount set out in their water service application
If the user accessing Tucson’s water violates any part of the agreement, the possible sanctions are:
- For a first violation that took place for less than a year, the water user must pay 200% of the monthly charges for water used
- For a second violation that took place for more than a year but less than two years, the water user must pay 500% of the monthly charges for water used
- For a third violation that took place for more than two years but less than three, the water user must pay 1000% of the monthly charges for water used
- For a fourth violation that took place for more than three years, the water user must pay 2000% of the monthly charges for water used
- After that, Tucson Water could install a water restricting device, at the applicant’s cost, or suspend water access entirely
Tucson Water also said it will not collect fees for the applications or adopt new rates for large water users as part of the ordinance.
A history of water stewardship
Tucson was one of the first U.S. cities to start a large-scale water reclamation program that uses treated wastewater for parks, schools and golf courses, said a city council communication on the large water user ordinance.
That has kept water use about the same as it was in the late 1980s, even though Tucson Water now serves 200,000 more people.
Bogan, of the University of Arizona, said Tucson has been a leader in its water policy for more than three decades. In his experience, the data center response was one of the first times Tucson was playing catch up on water policy.
Ward 4 council member Nikki Lee said she didn’t know about the vulnerability in Tucson’s city codes until she heard about a bottling plant that wanted to do business in her ward and would have unlimited water access. “That was a huge catalyst for me,” she said Tuesday.
What Bogan would like to hear in the ongoing process reviewing the large water user ordinance is how city officials will consult tribal communities. In particular, Bogan said, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe relies on Tucson Water to provide water for its community. The tribe is one among many in Arizona that has an ongoing dispute with the state over water access.
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