Buckeye, Arizona—a city whose ambitions tower as high as the Sonoran desert is wide—is facing a crunch as it dreams of a future housing a populace to rival Phoenix. Proposals to transform 2,800 acres of this desert into nearly 10,000 homes at North Star Ranch are hitting a wall of concern from residents, according to a report by 12News. "They are trying to interject urban land use and design by force-feeding it to this community," Tom Berry told 12News, worried about the impact on traffic and noise. The developer, however, points to long-standing plans, with attorney Susan Demmitt saying, "It’s not different. It’s not urban," in a statement to 12News.
But it's not just local opposition causing furrowed brows, water—or the lack thereof—casts a long shadow. Buckeye's rapid growth, having doubled its population to nearly 120,000 in just a decade, is thirsty work, and the city is eyeing extraordinary measures to sate it. Amid Arizona's declaration that a building boom is unsustainable due to water scarcity, Buckeye refuses to put brakes on development, entertaining ideas like importing water from Mexico. The city's mayor, Eric Orsborn, retains a buoyant outlook. “Personally, my view is that we are still full steam ahead,” he said in an interview with The Guardian.
The wild card that could secure Buckeye's thirsty future? A proposed desalination pipeline running hundreds of miles from the Gulf of California in Mexico was sketched out by an Israeli firm at a projected cost of around $5 billion. It's a gargantuan notion, replete with potential ecological impacts—from the saltwater brine byproduct to the uptick in the city's footprint into pristine desert environs. Despite skepticism and the herculean engineering efforts such a project would demand, proponents argue it's key to Arizona's continued expansion. In a statement to The Guardian, Chuck Podolak, director of Arizona's Water Infrastructure Finance Authority declared, "We’re going to seek the wild ideas, and fund the good ones."
Back at North Star Ranch, the Buckeye City Council is set to consider the housing proposal on Tuesday, with the development still lacking a vital certificate of assured water supply from the Arizona Department of Water Resources. Demmitt reassures that a new water source would be secured before building begins, which might not commence for another two years. “Ultimately, if Buckeye becomes a water service provider we’ll get water service through the City of Buckeye, separate from bringing our own certificates of assured water supply," she said, according to 12News. As these debates simmer, Berry voices a plaintive hope: "I will probably never live to see the end of this but it’s just not right. For the people who have to see the end of it, we have to act now," he told 12News.
