Goodyear council reviews draft water-allocation policy to map parcel-level ‘paper water’ and curb private wells

Goodyear staff presented a draft water resource allocation policy Tuesday that would assign a parcel-level, 100‑year "paper water" allocation for undeveloped land and require developers to show how a proposed project fits its parcel's water budget.

The policy, Water Services Director Barbara Chappell told the council, would use the city’s recently adopted integrated water master plan and associated land-use layer to assign an allocation to each undeveloped parcel. "This is the legal paper water only," Chappell said, explaining the policy would cover water resources rather than infrastructure delivery. She said the city has a "100 year assured water supply" designation and has an application pending with the State Department of Water Resources that would add about 10,000 acre-feet per year to the city's portfolio.

Chappell described how the policy would treat developed and undeveloped parcels differently: allocations for undeveloped parcels would be generated from the land-use layer (for example, a 100‑acre parcel at 4 dwelling units per acre would translate to 400 homes and an allocation of 160,000 gallons per day), while developed parcels would use historic utility billing to set a baseline allocation going forward. She said the city is building a GIS tool so development-services staff — and prospective developers during due diligence — can click a parcel on a map and see its water allocation.

The draft also includes guidance for large water users. Chappell said a project that needs more water than a parcel’s allocation could pursue alternatives including: locating on a different parcel with a higher allocation, purchasing or leasing water from other entities (she cited the Gila River Indian Community as an example), or purchasing additional resources from the city’s portfolio if available. "We could have them bring a water supply," she said.

On private wells and self-service water use, Chappell recommended the city discourage and preferably prohibit on-site well drilling inside the city's service area. "We would definitely oppose anyone trying to drill a well within our service area," she said, noting that the Arizona Department of Water Resources must permit wells and that the state notifies the city when a well application falls inside the designated service area so the city can participate in the public process.

Council members praised the high-level approach but asked staff to build in clearer decision checkpoints and flexibility. Councilmember Lauren said the policy is an important step to create continuity across multi‑year projects and requested a decision pathway so some unusually large or economically significant proposals could receive council-level consultation rather than a routine staff determination. "We don't have to accommodate everyone," Lauren said, but asked that the ordinance language preserve flexibility for "unicorn" opportunities.

Other council members asked staff to strengthen the language on prohibiting self-service wells (several said "discouraged" sounds optional), to tie conservation measures into the strategic plan and upcoming zoning updates, and to ensure the GIS allocation tool and ordinance process would not unintentionally block desirable economic development. Chappell said staff will work with the city attorney to draft ordinance language and will return with a revised policy later this spring, complete the GIS tracking tool and staff training, and bring required implementing ordinances in the fall.

The discussion was deliberative; there was no formal vote. Staff characterized next steps as: (1) incorporate council feedback, (2) finish the GIS allocation tool and train development‑services staff, and (3) bring ordinance language back for formal adoption this fall.

The meeting record shows the water-allocation discussion ran from the staff introduction through the council Q&A and concluded before the procurement-code presentation began.