FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Senate Republicans Pass "Ag-to-Urban" Bill in Committee
to Help Arizona Families Afford a Home While Saving Water
PHOENIX, ARIZONA— A bipartisan bill designed to help Arizona conserve water while increasing homebuilding to bring housing prices down for hardworking Arizona families is advancing out of committee and moving closer to a vote on the Senate floor.
SB 1611, also known as the "Ag-to-Urban" bill, passed out of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources, Energy & Water (NREW) today. Sponsored by NREW Chairman T.J. Shope, the bill provides solutions to Arizona's most pressing issues: groundwater protection and skyrocketing home prices due to low supply. SB 1611 allows farmers to sell their land and water rights to developers who will in turn build for-sale housing to meet the needs of Arizona's growing population.
"The solutions proposed in this bill have been heavily vetted over the past 14 months. I've hosted three separate stakeholder meetings in the past few weeks alone with more than 80 in attendance, including water experts, housing developers, farmers, and members from both the Senate and House," said Chairman Shope. "I've received an outpour of support from Republicans and Democrats alike, and I'm calling on Governor Hobbs to join the movement by allowing ag-to-urban developments to take shape in Arizona to secure our water future and help hardworking Arizonans achieve their American dream of homeownership. After last year's missed opportunity by the Governor when she vetoed this bill, I'm hopeful she will see light and take the right action this time around."
Single-family housing in Arizona currently uses less water than agriculture. In fact, our state uses the same amount of water today with 7.5 million people living here, as it did in 1957 with only 1.5 million people. Meanwhile, the most recent data available from the Arizona Department of Housing estimates a shortage of 270,000 housing units statewide. This lack of supply is a driving force behind rising prices. Over the past five years, the average median home sale price in Arizona has increased more than 50% and currently sits near $450,000. There are currently more than 400,000 acres of irrigated farmland in the Phoenix, Pinal, and Tucson Active Management Areas that could participate in the ag-to-urban program, if signed into law. If half of this farmland is transformed into housing, more than a million homes could be built. This increased supply would effectively lower home prices in Arizona and save water.
"Thank you to Senator Shope and the members of NREW for passing SB1611 out of committee today. We have housing projects in the Valley that are ready to be built on existing agricultural lands, but we cannot because of the moratorium the Department of Water Resources has placed on the issuance of new certificates of assured water supply. And yet, it is undisputed – housing uses less water than farming," said Mike Cowley, President of Cowley Companies. "By encouraging the voluntary retirement of agricultural lands that are in the path of growth, the bill creates a responsible pathway for the development of much-needed housing while protecting our groundwater aquifers."
###
For more information, contact:
Kim Quintero
Director of Communications | Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus
Comments