Sahuarita residents voice concerns about data centers at Town Hall

For Sahuarita residents, the debate over possible data centers is already touching some of the region’s most sensitive issues, including water supplies, industrial development and the role of large corporations in local decisions. At a packed town hall, residents objected to the idea of data centers being built in or near their community, even though town officials said no developer has submitted an application for one.

Town Manager Shane Dille told the audience that the town has received no formal plans for a data center or any other heavy industrial project at the site residents have been discussing. Information circulating online, he said, remains speculative. That clarification did not quiet the concerns in the room. Several residents said they wanted the town to address the possibility before a proposal arrives, rather than finding themselves surprised by a project that could affect water, traffic, land use and the character of the community.

One resident questioned whether elected officials would prioritize residents or corporate interests if a major industrial proposal moves forward. Another argued that data centers are a poor fit for a drought stricken region, saying their water needs could be substantial. Those concerns reflect a larger anxiety in southern Pima County, where population growth, groundwater depletion and competing demands from homes, businesses, mining and other large users have made water a central issue in nearly every development debate.

Although no data center application is pending, Sahuarita’s Community Development Department is working on an amendment to the town’s industrial zoning code. The proposed changes would include regulations specifically addressing data centers. Dille said town staff are studying the experiences of Marana and Tucson, which have also wrestled with how to regulate or evaluate these facilities. The work could give the town rules in place before a developer submits a formal plan, though the town has not announced when the amendment will be completed or presented for a vote.

Residents who want updates about potential projects can sign up for email notifications through Sahuarita’s website. That step matters because a formal application would begin a process involving public notices, staff review and opportunities for residents to comment. Until then, officials say there is no confirmed data center project for the community to approve, reject or evaluate.

The data center discussion is unfolding alongside a much longer fight over industrial development in the Santa Rita Mountains. At a Jan. 31 meeting, roughly 400 residents from Sahuarita and Green Valley gathered to discuss Copper World, a proposed mining operation by Canadian owned Hudbay Minerals. The meeting was organized by Save the Scenic Santa Ritas Association, a group founded in 1996 to protect the mountains’ scenery, wildlife and environmental resources from industrial mining.

Copper World would be located about 28 miles southeast of Tucson and could include as many as five open pit mines. Hudbay has estimated that the project’s first phase would bring $1.7 billion in investment to Pima County. The company’s preliminary economic assessment projected production of 60,000 tons of ore annually during the first 20 years, with water use estimated at about 140 gallons per ton of ore, or roughly 8.4 million gallons per day. Save the Santa Ritas Executive Director John Dougherty said that would be about five times the water use of a proposed data center in Tucson, placing the data center debate within a broader regional argument over how much water large industrial users should consume.

Water concerns are especially pointed because of the Santa Ritas’ role in replenishing local aquifers. Snowpack and rainfall move through the mountain range and help recharge groundwater in surrounding valleys and basins. Green Valley has been identified by the Arizona Department of Water Resources as a subsidence zone, where extensive groundwater pumping has contributed to sinking land. A 2014 agreement between Sahuarita and Hudbay’s predecessor, Rosemont Copper, called for an underground water pipeline and required the company to replenish 105 percent of the water used by the mine. Hudbay and Rosemont have purchased and stored more than 47,000 acre feet of Central Arizona Project water, although only 1,600 acre feet is actively stored at the Pima Mine Road recharge facility, according to the Central Arizona Conservation District.

The mining proposal also illustrates why residents are wary of heavy industrial projects before they are formally submitted. Because Copper World would not have direct rail access, opponents say trucks would carry explosives, chemical waste and copper concentrate through downtown Sahuarita and across the Santa Rita Experimental Range. Save the Santa Ritas estimates approximately 40,000 truck trips each year, or about one truck passing through downtown every 15 minutes. A 2012 Environmental Protection Agency review of an earlier Rosemont project warned that increased truck traffic could raise the risk of accidents and deaths on nearby state routes. Opponents also point to past chemical spills and a report commissioned by the group that projected a possible $100 million decline in housing values in Corona de Tucson if a Copper World tailings facility were built there.

The Santa Ritas are home to Madera Canyon, the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory and the Santa Rita Experimental Range, as well as sites tied to the history of the Tohono O’odham, Pascua Yaqui and Hopi tribes. Hudbay recently announced Mitsubishi as a 30 percent investor in Copper World, prompting additional questions about where the copper would go. While the mining project and a potential data center are separate matters, both debates are forcing Sahuarita and nearby communities to consider how industrial growth could affect water, transportation, the environment and long term economic stability. For now, the town’s data center rules are still being developed, and residents are pressing officials to make those decisions in public before any project arrives.