Gov. Hobbs sounds alarm on west Valley water shortage as developments continue popping up

BUCKEYE, Ariz. - A shocking report shows the groundwater supply beneath Arizona is drying up and governor Katie Hobbs is sounding the alarm during her State of the State Speech by releasing the 100-year water supply report.

The report is especially troubling if you live west of Phoenix.

This comes as a surprise to a lot of homeowners out there as many say they moved less than three months ago and say if had they known about this, they may not have moved to the west Valley.

"I don't understand and do not, in any way, agree with my predecessor choosing to keep this from the public and members of this legislator," Hobbs said during her address on Jan. 9. "Department of Water Resources that shows portions of Phoenix's far west Valley are currently short of the 100-year assured water supply program by 15% today."

Regardless of the report, new developments are still going up in Buckeye.

All along, Buckeye city officials say that essentially, they believe they have enough water in its aquifer and that managing that water is key to making it last.

"Two politicians seem to want the revenue and want the people moving here and that's what we're going to be stuck with, no water and a bunch of homes people cannot live in," Robert Kirby said.

This isn't what residents who just moved into new developments in Buckeye want to hear.

Michael Moodie moved to Buckeye in November from Jamaica. He's aware of a water supply shortage but didn't know the far west Valley is short of the 100-year water supply program.

"I'm concerned because we need water to survive. Without water, then we're like instinct, we have to survive with water. So, yeah, I'm concerned about it," Moodie said. "I hope they can solve the water issue … build more stuff to contain water and clean water, you know, so we can stay here because it's a nice community. Buckeye is a really nice place, so we'd like to stay here as long as possible."

Hobbs says this is a dual challenge between balancing the need of the housing crisis with the need to address water shortages.

"The fact is if we continue down the path that we're continuing on, the aquifers are going to dry up, and we have to address that, so this report gives us a baseline to move forward," Hobbs said.

The city of Buckeye isn't commenting on the report. They say it's a 300-page report and need time to read through it.