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Jan. 29, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Plans prompt water scrutiny

305,000 Rhodes homes possible

By DAVE HAWKINS
SPECIAL TO THE REVIEW-JOURNAL

KINGMAN, Ariz. -- Las Vegas developer Jim Rhodes plans to build as many as 305,000 homes and drill for massive quantities of water to supply them in the Kingman area, according to documents scrutinized by state and local officials.

Those officials said they are concerned about the size of the company's proposed developments at five northwest Arizona locations and their possible effects on the area's underground aquifers.

Mohave County Board of Supervisors Chairman Pete Byers expressed outrage at the revelations.

"We've got these animals coming in here eating up our entire county," Byers said. "It's very frustrating that these giant builders are coming here with these huge projects demanding all the water, and people are blaming me, and there's nothing I can do about it."

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    • The city of Kingman and surrounding areas rely upon groundwater from the Hualapai Basin. The Arizona Department of Water Resources has determined that roughly 70,000 acre-feet of groundwater per year from the same basin is available to Rhodes through his ownership of large tracts of land.

    "That's an amazing amount of water," Arizona Water Resources spokesman Jack Lavelle said.

    Agency Director Herb Guenther said he has never seen one party secure that much water from a single basin.

    "This is by far the largest I've ever dealt with," Guenther said.

    He said several hundred thousand homes are planned in the Buckeye area outside Phoenix, but he noted that some 16 developers are pursuing those projects.

    There are about 326,000 gallons in an acre-foot, which is enough water to supply two average Las Vegas homes for one year.

    Rhodes Homes Arizona Vice President Chris Stephens said Arizona law affords a landowner the right to prove supply to secure water for future development.

    "What we can do as a good developer is protect our rights to develop," Stephens said. That is what Arizona law allows every landowner to do, he said.

    The water supply analysis is preliminary, Stephens said, and the Arizona water agency is free to change numbers and allowances before water is conveyed to new homeowners.

    Guenther said he was aware Rhodes was active in northwest Arizona but did not know so much water has been declared available for so many homes at the Peacock Vistas, the Peacock Highlands, the Nugent Ranch, the Hafley Ranch and at Red Lake.

    "That's news to me," Kingman Mayor Les Byram said Monday. "The city of Kingman had ought to be concerned if he's got that many future projects in mind and got land to drill wells in our aquifer."

    Stephens said Rhodes really doesn't want to be in the water business and that Kingman could possibly benefit from a future partnership. He said Kingman, as had been proposed by former City Manager Paul Beecher, could expand its service boundary and provide water in a mutually beneficial agreement.

    "We think these are things that the city ought to be thinking about," Stephens said.

    Rhodes also plans to develop as many as 25,000 homes in Golden Valley west of Kingman, serving them with groundwater from the Sacramento Basin. Forty miles north of Kingman Rhodes plans to build as many as 20,000 more homes at the Village at White Hills, served by the Detrital Basin, about 40 miles north of Kingman.

    Similarly, Las Vegas businessman Leonard Mardian plans to develop as many as 25,000 homes at his Ranch at White Hills and 40,000 more at the nearby Mardian Ranch. The former would use water from the Detrital Basin, the latter from the Hualapai Basin.

    "Where are they going to get all those people?" asked a bewildered Lavelle.



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    doug wrote on February 28, 2008 04:07 PM: The housing and credit markets are collapsing worldwide and this guy is still building? With Las Vegas and Phoenix leading the country in foreclosures how can there be demand for all of these houses in Kingman?


    Anonymous wrote on February 01, 2008 08:21 AM: I hope that ADWR can do something about this. If 70,000 acre feet of water is available to his due to his ownership of land (an how did they get that number???), and it provides 2 families per acre foot- that means he can build 140,000 home if I figure correctly. So why is he planning 305,000 homes!? Do all property owners have water rights, even if we own less land? I wonder also, what the complications of him asking the town to be his provider has. Sounds political as well.


    K. Smith wrote on January 30, 2008 01:13 PM: It is laughable to me that Pete Byers and Les Byram are "outraged" and "surprised". It appears they have worked with Rhodes behind the scenes for some time to make these developments happen. Just ask about all the emails generated from pulic computers that they refuse to release regarding Rhodes. What is outrageous is our public officials selling out to a Las Vegas Developer well known for his "political ties". We don't have any more water than Las Vegas and it absurd to think this area could or would want to support that many homes.

    Word on the street is that the Mohave County Commissioners consider this a "done deal". We'll see how the Commissioners vote on these projects. Talk is talk, action is action.

    And by the way, Dave Hawkins, who uses his expertise for public relations and damage control, is known for providing insight and recommendations to Rhodes, the City of Kingman and Mohave County.
    What's his motivation, he doesnt live in any of the affected communties....


    Roger wrote on January 29, 2008 08:07 AM: Rhodes sounds like he is s******g a brick over the mortgage meltdown. There are not 300,000 people in Kingman. He will never get away with that, but it is a shame that he would willingly destroy the natural resources and quality of life for so many people. Hopefully Rhodes will go bankrupt if he is not already. Sounds like the last attempt of a desperate idiot to hold on to his petty empire of riches. I guess Hell is full of cookie cutter houses and all of Rhode's good friends. He must have a palace waiting for him in Hell...


    Vegas Vic wrote on January 29, 2008 03:18 AM: This seems typical of developers. They don't care that their projects could seriously damage or destroy existing aquifers. These aquifers have specific recharge rates and if the amount of water exceeds that rate, the aquifer could end up just "shutting down" and never recharge again. If that happens to a lot of them, where will all these homes the developers are building get their water then? This applies to all underground aquifers including those in the northern rural counties of our own state. If the SNWA, after building their $2 to $3.5 billion dollar pipeline, is shown that they're destroying the aquifers, do you think they're going to stop sucking the counties dry? I don't think so because they'll want to make up for the cost of building the pipeline, no matter the cost to local residents.