PHOENIX — Phelps Dodge Corp. has agreed to pay $24.6 million in cash and water to Scottsdale for the 8,300-acre Planet Ranch.
The copper-mining company plans to create a wildlife habitat on the land.
Scottsdale bought the land for $11.4 million in 1984 in hopes of securing water rights. But soon after, the state Legislature restricted the ability of cities to import water from rural counties.
Phoenix-based Phelps Dodge wants to take advantage of federal incentives for companies to restore land in one part of Arizona to make up for environmental damage elsewhere.
Company spokesman Jim Telle said the deal could help the mining company settle claims with Arizona for environmental damage at mining sites in Morenci and the Tohono O'odham Reservation.
Under the deal, which must be approved by the Scottsdale City Council on Tuesday, Phelps Dodge will pay Scottsdale $12 million and give the city 50,000 acre-feet of surface-water credits worth $12.6 million.
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Scottsdale will have the right to at least 500 acre-feet of water per year, drawn from the Salt River Project system and sent through the Arizona Canal to the Chaparral water treatment plant.
An acre-foot of water is 325,851 gallons, or enough to annually serve a family of four.
