Developer says solar farm south of Safford would need 49 million gallons of water to construct

SAFFORD — During a recent virtual public meeting, the public learned how much water will be used to develop a solar farm in Graham County, south of Safford.

The Safford Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management hosted the meeting Aug. 15 with representatives of Advanced Power Services, which is seeking to develop a solar farm and battery energy storage system on 6,340 acres of land to the east of U.S. Highway 191, about 11 miles south of Safford.

Phase one would include a 285-megawatt solar farm and 200-megawatt four-hour battery system, while phase two would be a 300-megawatt solar farm and 200-megawatt battery system.

Taylor Williams, manager with Advanced Power Services, said water would be used both in construction and for operation of the photovoltaic solar farm.

“Currently Calypte Solar plans to drill a well for water usage; there are already some water wells on the site. The project is estimated to use approximately 150 acre-feet for dust abatement during the construction phase, and up to 10 acre-feet during operations and maintenance for panel washing,” Williams said.

One acre-foot is equal to about 326,000 gallons of water, so almost 49 million gallons of water would be used during construction, and almost 3.3 million gallons of water used per year the solar farm is operational.

Williams said construction of phase one will require 200 to 350 workers per day, while operation will generate five to eight full-time jobs.

Advanced Power Services is currently in contract talks to generate the power for Tucson Electric Power, and connect through TEP’s Greenlee-Winchester transmission line.

If all permits are granted, construction is expected to start in the third quarter of 2025, with phase one of the project complete and operational by the first quarter of 2028.

Public comment on the proposed project will be accepted via e-mail through Sept. 16 at blm_az_sfo_solar@blm.gov.

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