Arizona Developers Are Building Through a Drought, but at What Cost?

The West coast is entering its third year of drought, with California recording its driest January and February on record, but a shortage of water isn’t enough to slow home building, according to CNBC. Over a million more homes are needed to meet current housing demand across the U.S., particularly in states like Arizona, where suburbs and cities are growing rapidly.

One of the largest master-planned communities in the nation is under development in an area just west of Phoenix, and it’s just one of over two dozen similar projects in the works outside of Arizona’s capital city.

As the millennial generation hits its prime homebuying years and Gen Z enters the fray, the supply of homes for sale is at a record low. Builders are hampered by high costs for land, labor and materials, so they are focused on the West and areas like the suburbs of Phoenix, which are growing rapidly.

“They’re expecting the growth in this area to be a million people. And there isn’t the water to sustain that growth. Not with groundwater,” said Kathleen Ferris, senior water research fellow at Arizona State University.

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