SSSR requests Sahuarita to determine whether Hudbay is in violation of 2013 groundwater pumping agreement

Save the Scenic Santa Ritas has requested the Sahuarita Town Council to immediately determine whether Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals is in violation of an agreement to replenish 105% of the groundwater it plans to pump from the area aquifer for the Copper World mine.

Sahuarita signed a 2013 Right-of-Way encroachment agreement with Rosemont Copper Company that allows the mine developers to install an underground water pipeline along Santa Rita Road within the town limits.

Rosemont, which was purchased by Hudbay in 2014, stated in the agreement that it would replenish 105% of the groundwater it pumps with Central Arizona Project water. The agreement requires the CAP water to be recharged into the aquifer in the same area from where it is pumped.

“If there is no feasible way for Hudbay to recharge 105% of the groundwater water with CAP water, then the Town should immediately cancel the Right-of-Way encroachment agreement,” says SSSR Executive Director John Dougherty.

The water pipeline would run from the mine’s wellfield just east of the Sahuarita town limits along Santa Rita Road through Sahuarita and then across the state-owned Santa Rita Experimental Range to the mine’s processing facility, which the company plans to construct on the northwestern slope of the Santa Rita Mountains.

SSSR made the request in a Dec. 30, 2025 letter sent to Sahuarita Mayor Tom Murphy and copied to the other six members of the town council. SSSR recommended the town hire an independent expert to determine whether it is feasible for Hudbay to meet the terms of the agreement.

“There is overwhelming evidence that it will be virtually impossible for Hudbay to replenish even a fraction of the groundwater it plans to withdraw from the aquifer beneath Sahuarita and Green Valley with CAP water, let alone 105%,” Dougherty says.

According to the Central Arizona Water Conservation District which operates the CAP, Rosemont Copper and Hudbay have recharged 1,683 acre-feet of CAP water at the Pima Mine Road Recharge Project near Sahuarita from 2007 through September 2025. This amount is only enough water to operate the planned Copper World mine for less than four months. Copper World is intended to operate for more than four decades.

Hudbay has a state Department of Water Resources permit to pump up to 6,000 AF of groundwater a year. An acre-foot of water is equal to 325,851 gallons, which provides enough water for three single-family homes per year.

The company, however, has stated in technical reports that it intends to pump at least 9,409 AF a year and could increase that amount by 50%. Mining companies are exempt from state groundwater withdrawal limits and can request permits be set to whatever is necessary to operate a mine.

The Right-of-Way encroachment agreement also requires Hudbay to cover the cost of damages to the town’s production and monitoring wells caused by the groundwater pumping for the mine, including installing a new production well if needed.

“While the agreement protects the town’s assets, Sahuarita elected officials have done nothing to protect thousands of Sahuarita residents from facing much higher water bills caused by Hudbay’s planned massive groundwater withdrawal,” Dougherty says. “The town council must put the best interests of its citizens ahead of a Canadian mining company that intends to export copper overseas.”

SSSR will host a community meeting at 1 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 31, at the Sahuarita Unified School District Auditorium to provide citizens with additional information. (The community meeting was previously scheduled for Jan. 10.)

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