Ms. Cobb said she welcomes companies investing in the area, but not if their purpose is “solely to transfer water away from rural Arizona.”
Other officials from Mohave and Yuma counties, whose areas depend on diverted river water, raised similar objections. They argued that Queen Creek has other alternative water sources it could consider and shouldn’t siphon away a resource that the rural community depends on.
Grady Gammage Jr., an attorney for GSC Farm, said during the meeting that the water transfer “is in the best interests of all of Arizona.”
GSC’s right was established by transfers dating to the 1950s, according to Mr. Gammage.
For now, the company is leasing out the land, and the water is flowing to fields of cotton and alfalfa.
Queen Creek, founded in 1989, gets a relatively small allocation of Colorado River water from the Central Arizona Project Canal.
Town officials said buying water rights is part of their long-term strategy.
The deal would bring enough water to supply approximately 5,500 homes, he said. The costs for the town, on top of the $21 million payment, would include about $350,000 per year to deliver the water through the CAP Canal.
Queen Creek is one of the fastest-growing communities in Arizona. The 2010 census recorded a population of about 26,000. The town now estimates the population is 51,800. Its water service area is twice the size of the town’s boundaries, supplying an estimated population of 90,000.
The town’s officials project that once Queen Creek is fully built out, it will be home to about 170,000 people, with a water system serving approximately 238,000.
