So the UA wants to build a biosciences park in one place and a science and technology park in another place and KB Homes is squawking unfair because the City Council has recognized that groundwater should not be used on golf courses and is balking on the deal. Now KB Homes will kill the deal and not build more homes, if they don’t get the golf course. They already knew there is policy against using drinking water to water golf courses. They are probably just trying to weasel out on the deal because of the housing glut. It is totally unreasonable to demand that a golf course be watered with drinking water.
A golf course? How necessary is that? Not at all. Have a shuttle to another one, for God’s sake, or build one in Louisiana where there’s plenty of grass. How about a desert tree botanical park with a pupfish exhibit using tiny ponds? There must be some alternative.
The article in the Arizona Daily Star said the UA owns the water rights and could install wells and pump merrily away until the water runs dry. I certainly hope our August University would use policy based on research done by their very own faculty. Honchos at the UA should contact the Arizona Department of Water Resources, Tucson Water and the appropriate UA departments who would counsel them as to the proper thing to do, given that water is a public resource. CAP recharge water does not need the added stress of pumping from the UA land.
Possibly more housing is not needed at this time. Some local realtors think Tucson is overbuilt.
Why can’t the UA build the biociences center and the science and technology center at the same location? Use a shuttle to connect the UA with this mega center. Consolidation could save construction costs, which have been hard hit by inflation.
