Pinal, Maricopa communities eye water in Arizona’s rural areas
CAP canal just north of Florence town limits on the 79.
Central Arizona has been booming — more people, more houses, more need for water. There’s also a long-term drought, and less water to buy from the Central Arizona Project canal system. It’s leading Phoenix exurbs to cast about, looking for new buckets.
Other regions of the state say: Don’t come here.
“They want to come and take from the rural counties, which is completely wrong, in my opinion,” said Holly Irwin, a county supervisor in La Paz County, in far-west Arizona. Her district is where the Colorado River runs along lush irrigated farmland and small towns.
