WATER IS LIFE in the Sonoran Desert. That’s why we continue to advocate for sustainable practices and for protecting the desert’s natural resources. Our advocacy doesn’t always yield the outcomes we seek, but we remain committed to transparency about what was achieved, where more work is needed, and what comes next.

For context, Tucson adopted its Large Quantity Water User Ordinance in August 2025 amid concerns about the water demands of the Project Blue data center. Under the ordinance, exceptionally high new water-users now must submit a conservation plan for their project to be approved by the City.

Because the rules were developed quickly, the Mayor and Council committed to revisiting them with community input. In our letter to the Mayor and Council, CSDP urged the City to lower the “large water customer” threshold from 10,000 to 2,500 CCF per month. One CCF equals about 748 gallons of water. Lowering the threshold would require more proposed projects to submit water conservation plans as part of the approval process. We also asked the City to protect flows in the Santa Cruz River when considering proposals to use reclaimed water for industrial purposes.

We attended the September 22nd public hearing to present our recommendations directly to the Mayor and Council.

The Mayor and Council voted 4–3 to lower the threshold to 8,500 CCF per month. They also directed staff to return within 120 days with proposals to require conservation plans for users expected to exceed 5,000 CCF per month and notification to the Mayor and Council when a user exceeds its approved water use. These additional measures still require Council approval and were not adopted during the hearing.

We appreciate the City’s decision to lower the threshold, though the adopted changes fall short of the stronger safeguards other community members and we requested. The Coalition will remain engaged as the City considers further changes and will continue advocating for protections for local water supplies, groundwater, and the Santa Cruz River. 

These protections MATTER in a state where a drought emergency declaration from 1999 remains in effect. 

For more on the hearing and community testimony, read Arizona Luminaria’s coverage.