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…