EPCOR Utilities Inc. has received an alternative designation of assured water supply, reopening a path to development in some parts of the West Valley.

It makes the private water company the first entity to obtain that status via new rules that allow residential construction to continue in areas reliant on groundwater.

The news comes after a two-year moratorium on new water supply certifications in the Phoenix Active Management Area . The change was prompted by modeling that showed unmet demand for water over time in the region, but it effectively halted home approvals in some high-growth areas on the edges of the metro that leaned heavily on groundwater supplies.

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