Key Points

• Results of a new groundwater model show that all of the physically available groundwater in the Greater Phoenix area is fully allocated.

• This will not impact new development within the service area of water providers with a Designation of an Assured Water Supply (DAWS), the vast majority of Phoenix-area communities. In addition, the model results will not impact subdivisions with a Certificate of Assured Water Supply.

• In areas outside the service area of a water provider with a DAWS, proposed subdivision developments will not be permitted without proof of a 100-year water supply that is not local groundwater.

• The model results show that Arizona’s 1980 Groundwater Management Act is working as intended, but the stresses of climate change and the overallocation of the Colorado River will require additional mitigation, adaptation, and innovation.