Southern Desert View Infrastructure Planning Issues and Related Impacts on Development

Below are some questions and answers related to development issues within the city's Desert View Planning Area. Click on a question to skip down to the answer.

Q:Why are there concerns related to water infrastructure in southern Desert View?

Q: What has the city done in the past to address water infrastructure issues in southern Desert View?

Q: What is the current water infrastructure situation in southern Desert View and what are the city’s plans to address future water infrastructure requirements in Desert View?

Q: How do water infrastructure issues impact developers and builders in southern Desert View?

Q: Why are there concerns related to water infrastructure in southern Desert View?

A: This report provides an overview of the city of Phoenix’s plans to facilitate water infrastructure provision in the area of the city that is bounded by Jomax Road to the north, Scottsdale Road to the east, the Central Arizona Project canal to the south, and Cave Creek Road to the west This area is part of the Desert View targeted growth area specified in the city’s General Plan, and will experience a significant amount of new residential and commercial development in the coming decade and beyond. Although the city and existing developments have already constructed a great deal of infrastructure, most parts of the area will not be able to develop without additional and costly facilities.

Prior to the 1990s, development in the southern Desert View area was extremely limited. Comprehensive infrastructure planning for the area was undertaken initially in the 1980s, when the Areas C & D Infrastructure Financing Plans were prepared using data provided from a number of sources, including the city’s existing water, wastewater and street plans for the area. Most of southern Desert View is Arizona State Trust Land, and development only began to take place as individual parcels were auctioned off by the Arizona State Land Department (ASLD), first primarily for commercial and institutional uses in Desert Ridge (ASLD Superblocks 4, 5, 6 and part of 7) and then more recently largely for residential uses (ASLD Superblocks 10, 11 and part of 7).

Most of the development that has occurred is located in the area defined in the Desert Ridge Specific Plan, but some planning and subsequent development has also taken place in the Paradise Ridge area located next to Scottsdale Road. Parcel 4 of Paradise Ridge has already been auctioned off by ASLD for commercial purposes, and Chauncey Ranch, one of the few previously privately-held properties in the area, has been developed as an auto retail complex. Interest in raw land for both residential and commercial purposes is extremely high in all parts of southern Desert View, and a recent ASLD auction yielded bids in excess of $1 million an acre for parcels designated for multifamily development. Developers, large builders, and users of commercial space have made applications for numerous parcels of ASLD land in southern Desert View, and auctions of many of these parcels are anticipated in the near future.

The city has made significant investments in water and wastewater infrastructure in northern Phoenix over the past two decades, but residential and commercial development has been so strong that in some areas the demand for services is greater than what can be provided with current facilities. As a result, major new investments in water and wastewater infrastructure are needed before development can be allowed to proceed in parts of Phoenix north of the Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal; in the southern Desert View area the primary constraint on new growth is the ability of the city to provide potable water to specific areas that are currently of great interest to developers and homebuilders. Although the city has put in place a large part of the necessary backbone infrastructure to facilitate new growth, additional networks of water mains, reservoirs, pressure reducing valves (PRVs) and booster stations are still needed to serve various parts of southern Desert View. As will be explained further in the following sections, these networks are sufficiently expensive and difficult to design and construct that the phasing of water infrastructure and associated development is warranted.

Q: What has the city done in the past to address water infrastructure issues in southern Desert View?

A: The City of Phoenix Water Services Department (WSD) has been investing heavily in the northeastern part of the city since the early 1990s, in an effort to facilitate the growth that was anticipated in this area. One major investment in the area was the 54-inch water transmission main and four major pumping stations that were constructed in Cave Creek Road that extends from the Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal in a northeastern direction towards the intersection of Carefree Highway and Scottsdale Road. This transmission main serves as a major part of the backbone for water supplies for all of Desert View, and obtains water primarily from the Union Hills Water Treatment Plant and distributes it to a wide range of developments including the existing residential and commercial uses in Desert Ridge, the Tatum Ranch development, and the residential and commercial areas such as Dove Valley Ranch and Home Depot located just south of the Carefree Highway. The majority of water delivered to current users in Desert View comes from this main, which cost approximately $28 million to build during the 1990s.

Since 2000, the WSD has committed to make a significant amount of infrastructure investment in the southern Desert View area to facilitate new development in that area. Much of this investment has been in the form of joint projects with the development community. Over the past five years alone, WSD has spent almost $18 million on water facilities alone in Desert View south of Jomax Road. Projects have included a Five Million Gallon (MG) reservoir at 64th Street and Happy Valley Road, a 42-inch/36-inch transmission main from 56th Street and Deer Valley Road to the reservoir at 64th Street and Happy Valley Road, a 36-inch main on Pinnacle Peak Road from Tatum Boulevard to 40th Street, and a 36-inch main on Tatum Boulevard from Dynamite Boulevard to Pinnacle Peak Road. Most recently a joint project with the Toll Brothers development at Aviano led to the construction of 36-inch transmission mains from Happy Valley and Cave Creek roads to 40th Street and Pinnacle Peak Road. While a sizeable portion of the city’s almost $18 million expenditures during the 2000-01 to 2003-04 fiscal years did come from impact fees or development occupational fees, about 58 percent of those costs were funded from bond funds which will be paid for from water rates.

The WSD also has funded projects that reduce the need for potable water by utilizing reclaimed water. Located at the southwestern corner of southern Desert View, the Cave Creek Water Reclamation Plant converts wastewater collected from the Desert View area into treated reclaimed (non-potable) water that is distributed to golf courses, parks, schools and other users north of the CAP. Providing this additional source of reclaimed water has allowed many users to substitute reclaimed water for regular water, in effect “stretching” the potable water supply distributed through the network connected to the Cave Creek main and other sources. The reclaimed water distribution system has two major branches, one running northeast along Cave Creek Road and the other running in an eastward direction to users such as the golf courses at the J.W. Marriott Resort in Desert Ridge.

The WSD is also currently preparing for future expansions of the Desert View water infrastructure system through a number of initiatives. An updated water master plan is being prepared that will guide the sizing and location of needed facilities, and funds have been programmed in the capital improvement program to ensure that the planned Zone 5 improvements (a new reservoir at 56th Street and Pinnacle Peak Road, and the 36-inch main along 56th Street from Deer Valley Road to the reservoir) needed to supplement future private sector improvements will be available. The WSD also reprogrammed funds in the last fiscal year to construct a 42-inch water main stub-out in conjunction with ongoing work at the intersection of Cave Creek and Deer Valley roads done by the Street Transportation Department, to ensure that the future private sector work on the 42-inch line in Deer Valley Road would not encounter delays associated with Bureau of Land Management jurisdiction at the intersection of Cave Creek and Deer Valley roads.

Q: What is the current water infrastructure situation in southern Desert View and what are the city’s plans to address future water infrastructure requirements in Desert View?

A: Any review of future requirements for potable water services in Desert View Village south of Jomax Road ultimately involves an analysis of the elevation contours of the area and the resulting water pressure zones that are needed to maintain adequate pressure for both residential and commercial requirements and emergency fire flows. The larger area is divided into six water pressure Zones (see corresponding map), with the sixth (Zone 10) covering only a small portion in the far northeastern area, and Zones 5, 6 and 7 covering the vast majority of southern Desert View. Both Zones 5 and 6 already contain a number of regional water lines – however only Zone 6 has a large main connection to the larger city system through the 54-inch Cave Creek Road main – Zone 5 is connected across the Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal by only smaller lines at Tatum Boulevard and Scottsdale Road (24-inch transitioning to16-inch). Major water facilities in Zone 7 are limited to one large line in Tatum Boulevard and associated wells. There are no large water facilities in Zones 8 or 9 in southern Desert View at this time, and the only reservoir in the area is a Zone 6 reservoir located south of Happy Valley Road near 64th Street.

Existing development in the Zone 5 sector of Desert Ridge is currently being supplied water largely via Zone 6 water facilities that do not have adequate capacity to serve additional Zone 5 or 6 demands. As a result, the threshold has been reached where further development in either Zone 5 or 6 portions of Desert Ridge will necessitate the construction of major facilities that will transmit water to Zone 5 areas, freeing up existing capacity in the Zone 6 network for additional development in that area. Critical to the provision of additional water to both Zones 5 and 6 is the planned 42-inch/36-inch water main that will extend from Cave Creek Road east along Deer Valley Road to Mayo Boulevard, and then to 56th Street where it will head north along that street until it reaches Pinnacle Peak and the 10 million gallon (MG) reservoir that will be located just east of the Pinnacle Peak Road and 56th Street intersection. This Zone 5 main and reservoir project, and associated 36-inch/24-inch lines in 40th Street and in Superblock 8, is required before any other mains in southern Desert View because it will not only provide service to the vast majority of Zone 5 (Desert Ridge Superblocks 12, 8, 9, 5, 6, 2 and 3), it will free up capacity in the existing Zone 6 system, allowing more development in that Zone.

The first segments of the project, which include a 42-inch line on Deer Valley Road from Cave Creek Road to approximately the intersection of 40th Street, a 36-inch line from that intersection to 56th Street and Deer Valley Road, and the installation of water mains along Desert Ridge Superblocks (DSB)11 and 8, will provide adequate water service to the ASLD parcels from Cave Creek Road to beyond 56th Street. It is estimated that these segments will cost in excess of $8 million to design and construct. The second segment of the project, which is currently in the city’s Five-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP), will extend the 36-inch line in 56th Street to the 10 MG reservoir located adjacent to Pinnacle Peak Road. Both this line and the reservoir will provide redundancy to the Zone 5 facilities, provide for meeting additional development water demands, regional fire flow storage, and provide emergency water supplies in the event of a transmission main or power failure. It is estimated that this portion of the system will cost more than $14 million to design and construct, and it anticipated that the second segment of the portion would have to be constructed within two to three years of the first segment being completed.

Once completed, this project would provide, or free up, capacity to serve virtually all of the Zone 5 parcels and the Zone 6 parcels that are located west of 56th Street – or roughly half of the land located in southern Desert View. These areas are generically depicted on the map as being "Sequence 1" and "Sequence 2" parcels, even though in fact they could arguably be lumped together as one sequence. The only difference between the two is that Sequence 1 is associated with existing Zone 6 facilities while Sequence 2 is associated directly with existing or future Zone 5 facilities. Areas in Zone 6 that would be affected would include much of the remaining developable land in DSB 4 and 5 and ASLD lands north of Pinnacle Peak Road and west of 40th Street. Areas in Zone 5 that would be provided with water service would include DSB 12, 9, 8, 6, 5 (partial), 3 and 2 (partial) as well as ASLD lands in the Paradise Ridge area that are south of the Pima Freeway (Loop 101).

Although the completion of major improvements to Zone 5 will allow development to take place in much of Zone 6 (by reducing demands on existing Zone 6 facilities), additional construction of the 24-inch Zone 6 lines in Deer Valley Road (from 56th Street to Scottsdale Road) and in 64th Street (from Deer Valley to Pinnacle Peak roads) will be required to serve a number of the Zone 6 properties such as DSB 1S and 2 in the Desert Ridge area. Although earlier plans had suggested the need for only limited additional facilities (20-inch and 16-inch lines in Paradise Ridge and a new Pressure Reducing Valve on Scottsdale Road) to serve Zone 6 properties in Paradise Ridge once the large Zone 5 main from Cave Creek Road is completed, more recent modeling efforts using higher density land-use assumptions for Paradise Ridge now indicate that additional facilities also may be required to serve that area.

When major improvements have been made to the Zone 5 and Zone 6 systems, allowing development to take place in most of Desert Ridge and the southern portion of Paradise Ridge, the next stage in water infrastructure improvements will be the addition of new facilities to allow development in the eastern portion of Zone 7. The construction of a network of 36, 30, 24, and 16-inch lines in 56th, 64th, 65th, and 68th streets, Cave Creek, Jomax, and Pinnacle Peak roads; a new reservoir at 64th Street and Jomax Road; a new booster station at 64th Street and Pinnacle Peak Road; and a new Pressure Reducing Valve at 68th Street and Pinnacle Peak and Jomax roads and Tatum Boulevard would probably cost more than $20 million but would provide service to a relatively small area, which includes Paradise Ridge Superblock (PSB)1N, DSB 1N and DSB 4L. Given that these areas will likely be dominated by low or mid-density housing, the high cost of providing necessary Zone 7 water improvements for these developments will likely prove to be a challenge.

Once the eastern portion of Zone 7 has been provided with backbone water service, building new facilities for the remainder of Zone 7 should prove to be a less expensive exercise. With the addition of a new reservoir at Jomax Road and 64th Street; two new Pressure Reducing Valves at Jomax and Tatum Boulevard, and Black Mountain Parkway and Happy Valley Road; and a number of 36-inch and 24-inch lines in Black Mountain Parkway, Jomax and Pinnacle Peak roads; and the remainder of the parcels in Zone 7 could be opened to development. This area, which includes a significant amount of land on either side of Tatum Boulevard north of Pinnacle Peak Road, is somewhat larger than the eastern portion of Zone 7 that would be developed earlier. If demand in the market was strong enough, it may be possible to combine all Zone 7 improvements into one major phase, but the associated water facilities costs would be considerable.

The final phase of water facility construction in southern Desert View will probably be the construction of Zone 8 and 9 infrastructure to the northeastern part of the area, which lies immediately south of Jomax Road and immediately west of Scottsdale Road. The supply of water to this area will come indirectly from the mains in Cave Creek Road, and as a result will depend on lines built in the earlier phases described above. Improvements in this area will include 30 and 16-inch lines in 56th and 64th Street, Happy Valley and Jomax roads, one booster station, and two small reservoirs.

Q: How do water infrastructure issues impact developers and builders in southern Desert View?

A: Because the existing development in the Zone 5 sector of Desert Ridge is currently being supplied water largely via Zone 6 water facilities that do not have adequate capacity to serve additional Zone 5 or 6 demands, and because the threshold has been reached where any further development in either Zone 5 or 6 portions of Desert Ridge will necessitate the construction of major facilities that will transmit water to Zone 5 areas, the city cannot allow any further development to take place in Desert Ridge or Paradise Ridge until the design and construction of new water facilities are initiated. Only properties that have already obtained master plan or site plan approvals from the Water Services Department (WSD) will be allowed to proceed. The WSD has estimated that the combination of existing residential and commercial water users and future development that has already been approved will bring the current network into a critical state where pressures will not be adequate to meet ongoing domestic water demands and fire flow requirements.

As previously described, the provision of additional water to both Zones 5 and 6 using a planned 42-inch/36-inch water main that will extend from Cave Creek Road east along Deer Valley Road to Mayo Boulevard, and then to 56th Street where it will head north along that street until reaches Pinnacle Peak Road and the 10 million gallon (MG) reservoir that will be located just east of the Pinnacle Peak Road/56th Street intersection, is critical to facilitate the development of remaining parcels in Desert Ridge and Paradise Ridge. The city is currently budgeting approximately $14 million to construct a new reservoir at Pinnacle Peak Road and the 56th Street alignment and the proposed 36-inch line that would connect the Deer Valley Road and 56th Street intersection with that reservoir (along 56th Street), and is spending $500,000 to provide the 42-inch main stub-out at the Cave Creek/Deer Valley roads intersection (approximately 1,000 feet), but more funds will be required to construct the water line from the stub-out just east of Cave Creek Road to the intersection of 56th St and Deer Valley Road.

Since the WSD does not have the funding necessary to construct those portions of the 42-inch/36-inch water line between Cave Creek Road and 56th Street and Deer Valley Road, one or more private sector entities will have to contribute a significant portion of the approximately $8-plus million that the facility will cost, and will have to manage the project and take on any cost or timing risks associated with the project. The city is currently in discussion with a number of developers that have purchased parcels in Desert Ridge, and a conceptual framework for the construction of the main has been proposed and is being considered by a number of parties. In addition, the Arizona State Land Department (ASLD) has required, and will likely continue to require, successful bidders for numerous parcels in Desert Ridge to contribute funds towards an escrow account that will be used to construct the water line, and these funds may prove useful in assisting the city and a developer consortium with the financing of the project.

It is clear that once a 30 percent design has been done for the project that better cost estimates will be available, and that once the parcels have been auctioned off that a more solid projection of actual development yields and associated impact fee liabilities will be possible. It is also apparent at this time that the total financial burden associated with the necessary Zone 5 and 6 water improvements that would be shouldered by development in the area would not be exceptionally high when compared with similar situations in other growth areas where infrastructure must be built to accommodate new growth. In fact, given the high values of land and major contributions by the city already programmed, their costs associated with the Zone 5 and 6 water infrastructure are not disproportionately high, particularly in comparison to the relative cost of infrastructure shouldered by the private sector in the North Black Canyon Corridor and other successful growth areas.

Because of the situation described above, residential developers and builders with properties in either Zone 5 or 6 of southern Desert View that do not already have site plan approvals or master plan approvals that utilize a portion of the limited remaining capacity in the existing water system will not be granted approval to move forward until such time as the design of the Zone 5 water main project has been completed, funding for the project has been assured, and construction has been initiated. Continued development of the Desert Ridge area will therefore be largely dependent on the successful establishment of a private sector group, and an agreement with the city, that can facilitate the design and construction of additional water facilities.