A small collection of signers have added their names to an online petition to “halt approval of water-hungry data centers in Buckeye.”
The online petition was launched on change.org, an online site that helps gather signatures for special interest groups.
To date, fewer than 100 verified signatures have been collected.
The petition was sparked by news of a massive, 2,069-acre technology park south of Interstate 10 and west of Buckeye Municipal Airport.
In August 2024, Tract, a developer of master-planned data center parks, announced its acquisition of the land, touted as one of the largest data center parks in the United States, “anticipating up to 20 million square feet of data center space across as many as 40 individual data centers at full build-out,” according to a prepared statement from the company.
“Tract is currently working with the local utility on plans for long-term growth with new power infrastructure which could support up to 1.8 gigawatts,” the statement reads.
“This project represents a major milestone for Buckeye,” said Mayor Eric Orsborn, in 2024 when the acquisition was announced. “Through our collaboration with Tract, we’ve positioned Buckeye to host one of the largest data center technology parks in the country, driving substantial revenue and ensuring a thriving, sustainable future. By identifying land near the airport, we replaced an outdated planned community with a decades-long plan for economic growth.”
Orsborn said these kinds of projects “require a well thought out, executable plan, especially when analyzing the infrastructure needs of communities, and we are pleased that this project reduces water demand, preserves natural spaces and creates hundreds of high-paying jobs.”
Tract purchased the land from Cipriani Holdings LLC, which had hoped to build 9,706 homes – a mix of single-family and multi-family – on the site, estimated to use 4,500 acre feet of water annually.
An acre foot is the amount of water required to cover an acre of land in one foot of water.
Alternatively, Tract and the city of Buckeye agreed to cap the water used for the data center technology parks at just 2,000 acre feet.
Still, the development sparked opposition from residents concerned about water.
“I started the petition because Buckeye is growing very quickly, and water is one of the most important resources in a desert community like ours,” Sasha Diann Wootton told InBuckeye.com today. “Large data centers can require significant amounts of water for cooling, and I believe residents deserve transparency and a real conversation about how projects like this fit into our long-term water future.”
Hydrogen plant sidelined
Earlier this month, the Buckeye City Council approved a rezone request clearing the way for an Australian company to move forward with its plans to construct a data center in southwest Buckeye.
In a letter from Fortescue to the City of Buckeye last month, the company stated that “Fortescue is currently assessing multiple development options for the property, including a potential data center and other industrial developments.”
In 2023 the property was rezoned from Rural Residential to allow for development of a hydrogen production facility proposed by Nikola Corporation (a manufacturer of heavy-duty commercial battery electric vehicles, fuel-cell electric vehicles and energy infrastructure solutions), according to city documents.
“The proposal indicated that the Hydrogen Hub was necessary to expand the current network of hydrogen production, distribution, and dispensing planned for North America,” city documents state.
However, since that time the company says “the policy environment surrounding clean hydrogen has considerably shifted.”
“The Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed on July 4, 2025, imposes stricter eligibility requirements for clean energy tax credits and accelerates the phase-out of clean energy tax credits that previously supported hydrogen production from renewable sources (ACTNews 2025),” stated an October letter from Fortescue’s Christy McDonough to the City of Buckeye. “In addition, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is considering cutting funding to hydrogen hubs, which, coupled with the new administration's limited regulatory pressures on reducing emissions, further weakens domestic demand for low-emissions hydrogen (Hydrogen Insight 2025).”
While about half the size of the Tract project, water remains a concern for Wootton and others.
“As a parent raising kids here, I think a lot about what Buckeye will look like 20 or 30 years from now,” Wootton said. “Water affects everything, homes, schools, parks, and the ability for families to live here long-term. “
The new plan for the Fortescue data center would bypass use of city provided utilities, such as water and wastewater, instead sourcing water from onsite groundwater wells and onsite wastewater treatment systems, according to the letter.
“I want to be clear that I’m not against technology or economic development,” Wootten said. “Projects like this can bring jobs and investment to the area. My hope is simply that growth happens responsibly and that the community understands the long-term impacts on water resources before projects of this size move forward.”
Completion dates for both projects have not yet been released.
One Response
Please stop putting our water at risk! We are on our own well and this could cause us thousands of dollars if we have to drill deeper and then no guarantee. Stop the building before it’s too late. And with our own well the concern for groundwater contamination is there as well.