Tucson cuts off water access to Project Blue subcontractor

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) — The city of Tucson has cut off water access to a Project Blue subcontractor.

The city claimed the water was misused by Ames Construction, which was hired by Beale Infrastructure to help build the controversial data center near the Pima County Fairgrounds.

Tucson claimed it discovered that Ames Construction got authorization to use Tucson Water, but it did not specify that it was for Project Blue.

The city said the subcontractor took 2-acre feet of Tucson Water outside of the city’s service delivery area. Ames was using the water for dust control at the Project Blue construction site.

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The city said that’s a problem because it made it clear it wanted nothing to do with Project Blue, and made it clear to Beale that it could not use city water in any way.

The city is asking Beale to return 2-acre feet of water credits to the city. For reference, that is the amount of water used by two to four homes in an entire year.

13 News reached out to Beale for a response Tuesday night, but we have not heard back as of 9 p.m.

The city said it found out about the issue when a resident asked a Ward 4 staffer about where the water was coming from. That triggered city staff to investigate.

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