April 27, 2026
PRESS RELEASE
Contact: John Dougherty, Executive Director
jdougherty@scenicsantaritas.org
Tucson—Hudbay Minerals appears to be violating state law and failing to abide by an agreement with the Town of Sahuarita in connection with four groundwater production wells it operated last year for its Copper World mine, state and town records reveal.
Hudbay has not filed required pump installation reports with the state Department of Water Resource for the wells drilled in late 2024 or early 2025 and operated in 2025. Hudbay has also not disclosed to Sahuarita that it drilled and operated the wells under a 2013 right of way license agreement with the town.
The agreement requires Hudbay to make annual disclosure of operations from two wellfields – Sanrita West and Sanrita South. The agreement also requires the company to replenish 105% of the water it pumps with Central Arizona Project within a defined area in Sahuarita and Green Valley.
In exchange, the town granted Hudbay a right of way to install a water pipeline along the Santa Rita Road within the town limits. The pipeline will transport more than three billion gallons of groundwater a year needed to operate the Copper World mine. The pipeline has not yet been installed.
“Sahuarita should not grant Hudbay permission to install its crucial water pipeline needed to operate Copper World until the company can prove it can replenish 105% of the groundwater Copper World will withdraw with Central Arizona Project water,” SSSR Executive Director John Dougherty said.
The pipeline route begins at Sanrita West, Hudbay’s primary wellfield, and continues south along Santa Rita Road before leaving the town property. The pipeline route continues south to the Sanrita South Wellfield, located just north of Quail Creek, before continuing east along the Santa Rita Road across the Santa Rita Experimental Range to the Copper World mine site.
SSSR notified the town and elected officials of Hudbay’s apparent violation in an April 16 letter to Town Manager Shane Dille. “SSSR requested the town to investigate Hudbay’s failure to report the well operations to the town,” Dougherty said. “No one from the town has responded to our letter.”
Sahuarita Mayor Thomas Murphy, however, expressed his strong support for Copper World in a full-page advertisement published in the April 24 edition of the Arizona Capitol Times, a weekly newspaper that covers the state legislature. Murphy praised Copper World and cited how the company has taken “meaningful steps…to share information openly” in a lengthy statement published above Hudbay’s logo.
Hudbay failed to file state reports
The state Department of Water Resources requires well drillers to file a drilling log report and well owners to file a pump installation report within 30 days of completion under ARS S 45-600. Hudbay received state approval to drill four wells in November 2024, three in Sanrita West and one in Sanrita South. Hudbay had previously installed a well in Sanrita South in 2015 and complied with state disclosure requirements.
But for the four new wells, state records show Hudbay has not filed the pump installation reports. The well drilling company hired by Hudbay has not filed the required well logs. (See ADWR records for Sanrita well #55-241987, well #55-241988 and well #55-242051 and Sanrita South well #55-241989 and well #55-225120.)
There is also no public record of Hudbay disclosing the well operations to the town. On April 6, the town released 396 pages of records to SSSR in response to a request for information under the Arizona Public Records Law. There are no records related to reports filed by Hudbay concerning installation and operation of groundwater wells in the Sanrita West and Sanrita South wellfields or replenishment with CAP water within the recharge area.
Hudbay has an agreement with the Community Water Company to pay for the installation of a pipeline to bring CAP water to Sahuarita and Green Valley and construct recharge ponds. The project is only 20 percent complete, according to Hudbay. During an April 2, 2026 interview, CWC general manager Arturo Gabaldon declined to say when the pipeline, called Project Renews, will be completed.
Future water allocations of CAP water from the Colorado River are projected to be slashed, casting doubt over whether Hudbay will be able to access more than 500,000-acre feet of CAP water needed to replenish the groundwater that will be used by Copper World over the life the mine.
The lack of public records showing Hudbay reported well drilling, pump installation and replenishment to the town proceeded incorrect statements and communications made by town officials related to Hudbay’s wells. During a Jan. 26, 2026 council meeting, Town Attorney Jon Paladini stated: “There’s been no well drilled, there’s not even a permit yet from ADWR that’s been approved to drill the well.”
Assistant Town Manager Beth Abramovitz sent a Feb. 20, 2026 email to SSSR that included a link to a one-page ADWR report that indicated that one of the wells had not been installed. “Based on that review, it appears that the well referenced in your correspondence has not been drilled,” Abramovitz stated. “As a result, the Town is not taking further action related to the license at this time.”
The reason ADWR report did not show the well was completed is because neither Hudbay nor the well driller have filed the required state reports.
Abramovitz, however, left the door open for future town review.
“However, the Town remains committed to monitoring the situation and will be responsive should (Hudbay’s) actual activities result in a material breach of the license agreement,” she stated.
Evidence of Material Breach
On March 26, 2026 Hudbay filed its 2025 groundwater summary report to ADWR for wells related to Copper World. This report is separate from the well driller logs and the pump installation reports for the four wells recently drilled well. The groundwater summary report included data from Hudbay’s three Sanrita West wells and two Sanrita South wells showing a total of 10.9 million gallons had been pumped in 2025.
“The town of Sahuarita needs to immediately hold a public hearing and hold Hudbay accountable for its failure to disclose to the town its groundwater pumping and failure to replenish the aquifer,” Dougherty said. “The state Department of Water Resources should also penalize to the fullest extent of the law both Hudbay and the well driller for failing to comply with state reporting law.”
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This is just more smoke and mirrors. What a mockery of our residents and elected officials. The damage and lies are already significant. How much more will Southern Arizona have to lose before people WAKE UP?