Project 48 Arizona

The Ahwatukee data center is still under construction. It isn't operating yet. Residents' complaints about construction noise and early starts deserve attention, and construction rules should be enforced. But construction noise isn't the same as noise from an operating data center. Missing from this coverage: Phoenix's commerce park zoning standard limits average noise at the property line to 55 dB Ldn, a 24-hour average with a 10 dB nighttime penalty. For sound staying constant around the clock, that works out to roughly 49 dBA. For context, the American Academy of Audiology puts moderate rainfall at 50 dB and normal conversation at 60 dB. And that standard applies at the project's property line, before sound crosses the road toward neighboring homes. Being a data center doesn't exempt the property from that requirement. Neither does being approved before Phoenix adopted its newer data center ordinance. The project must demonstrate compliance. Phoenix should enforce the rules. Whatever your view of the location, those noise requirements still apply. They belong in the story too.

🎶 I bless the rains down in… Arizona? October rains helped raise Lake Powell about 12 feet. The San Juan River, which feeds Powell, delivered 5x its normal October flow through Oct. 27. To put this fall rebound into perspective: @DataWater25743 (water-data.com) reports this was Powell's biggest seven-day rise on record outside May or June. Kathryn Sorensen of ASU's @KylCenter says the water Powell could release downstream without seriously compromising power generation more than doubled, from roughly 500,000 acre-feet to over 1 million. What does this mean for us here in Arizona? Lake Powell feeds Lake Mead, which supplies much of Arizona's Colorado River water. That bigger cushion is welcome news for the communities, farms, and businesses that depend on the river. It also buys us valuable time as we continue to diversify our water supplies, invest in conservation, and build new water infrastructure. Winter is coming (as the Starks would say). And a snowy one could build on these gains. For now, this is good news worth celebrating. 💧

Glendale voted 6-1 Tuesday to approve annexation and rezoning for Project Eagle and Project Baccara, a data center campus and its adjoining natural gas generation facility. What the city projects: 👷 About 200 permanent jobs with a six-figure average salary. 💰 More than $150 million in city revenue over 10 years. 🚒 Required emergency-services contributions that council members said would help fund a new fire station for the 303 corridor. And @GlendaleAZ isn't the only beneficiary. The applicant's presentation projects $145 million in tax revenue for the county, schools, and special districts, plus $224 million for Arizona over 10 years. What about water, power, and nearby homes? Here's what the hearing and approval documents tell us. 🧵

Arizona is going to court over Colorado River water. That's a reason to pay attention, not a reason to panic. We're defending our water rights while continuing to prepare for a smaller river. The Colorado River supplies roughly a third of Arizona's water. It's essential, but it isn't our only source. The other two-thirds comes from groundwater, in-state rivers like the Salt and Verde, and reclaimed water. Arizona communities have spent decades preparing. Cities like Tucson, Phoenix, Chandler, and Scottsdale have banked water underground for future shortages. Phoenix built a roughly $300 million pipeline to bring Salt and Verde river water to areas reliant on the Colorado. And that work continues with added urgency: a proposed Bartlett Reservoir expansion, advanced water purification in Phoenix and Tucson, and @ArizonaWIFA's studies of desalination and other new supplies. So why fight for Colorado River water if we're doing all of that? Fairness, reliability, and cost. Arizona agreed to absorb about 61% of the Lower Basin's cuts for 2027 and 2028. We're willing to do our part. But the federal framework imposes no mandatory cuts on the four Upper Basin states, and a fair long-term deal requires shared responsibility across all seven. We had the foresight to bank water underground for shortages like these. But those reserves aren't a permanent substitute for the river. Replacing lost Colorado River supplies takes time, infrastructure, and money. Our preparation shouldn't be a reason to ask us to shoulder a disproportionate burden. Preparing for a smaller river and insisting that Arizona gets a fair deal is the right way forward.