The Phoenix area is one of the fastest growing urban areas in the United States, but according to officials, there is not enough groundwater for all the new residents. The sufficiency of the Colorado River’s water is also a cause for concern.
Drought and concerns about water overuse are already affecting housing construction in the United States.
The state of Arizona has decided to limit the construction of new homes and revoke the permits already issued because of the concern about having enough water.
The Phoenix metropolitan area in Arizona is one of the fastest growing urban areas in the United States. Now, however, the limits of growth are coming up in the country’s fifth largest city.
According to the state’s forecast, groundwater resources in the Phoenix area are threatened with a deficit of six billion cubic meters over the next hundred years.
Governor of Arizona by Katie Hobbs those building in Phoenix’s fastest-growing suburbs now have to find water sources other than groundwater if they want to continue building.
Builders must rely on, for example, the use of surface water or water recycling. They may also try to buy water rights controlled by farmers or indigenous peoples.
However, buying water rights is not easy in a state that has been hit by an exceptional drought in recent years.
The New York Times notes that Arizona’s decision is a sign of the problems that await western states due to drought, climate change and water overuse.
The Colorado River’s water sufficiency is a cause for concern
Hobbs reassures the current residents by assuring them that they are not about to lose their water supply.
Apartment construction doesn’t stop at the wall either, as 80,000 still unbuilt apartments in the Phoenix region have received the necessary permits for water use.
However, according to experts, the pace of construction is slowing down in the urban area, which is home to half of Arizona’s population.
The construction of even hundreds of thousands of new apartments has been planned for the area where construction is restricted, he writes The Washington Post.
Builders have been particularly eager to acquire land in areas surrounding Phoenix where groundwater is used.
However, Phoenix’s most significant water source is the Colorado River, whose water sufficiency also causes concern.
Arizona agreed last week with six other states that use the river to cut water withdrawals by 13 percent over the next three years.
A total of 40 million people get their water from the drought-ridden and overused Colorado River.
In the past two years, Arizona’s water supply from the river has been interrupted twice.
Sources: AP, Reuters