Two golf courses in Scottsdale, Arizona, have paid almost US$10 million to buy groundwater rights from the Vidler Water Company.

The two unnamed courses bought 1,021.1 net acres and 3,063.3 acre feet of associated groundwater rights from Vidler in a transaction that was approved by the City of Scottsdale on 4 December.

The agreement allows the golf courses and the city to avoid the significant costs of construction of a planned pipeline, while at the same time providing a long-term groundwater supply for the golf courses, which comprise a significant economic component in the Scottsdale economy.

“The water we are able to make available for the golf courses and the community of Scottsdale provides the continued assurances that these valuable parts of Arizona’s economy will be able to stabilize their costs without impacting existing users. That makes the golf courses and Scottsdale less susceptible to drought, while protecting the larger water plans of Arizona,” said Vidler president Dorothy Timian-Palmer.

The agreement is subject to certain closing conditions and a final closing is expected in the first quarter of 2013.