Right now, in nearly 80 percent of the state, communities are suffering under the strain of the state’s inadequate rural groundwater protections. Multiple proposals to manage rural groundwater have been introduced in the Arizona Legislature this year by Senator Tim Dunn (R), Senator Priya Sundareshan (D), and Representative Chris Mathis (D).
Senate Bill 1520, sponsored by Senator Dunn, is the bill currently moving through the process, having passed out of the full Senate as well as the House Committee on Natural Resources, Energy, and Water. However, for any legislation to be enacted and signed by Governor Katie Hobbs (D), lawmakers must keep negotiating to reach the necessary political compromise.
Among the proposals, there seems to be general agreement that water users in rural Arizona could benefit from a new, more flexible groundwater management tool that:
- Allocates water use certificates based on past use or substantial capital investment
- Quantifies historical and current water use based on sound data
- Creates a new management framework that stops new large groundwater pumping within a groundwater basin unless an existing water use certificate is acquired
- Allows water use certificates to be transferred within a groundwater basin to meet changing needs without needing to also transfer land
- Promotes annual flexibility with water use by establishing flex accounts that one can credit and debit
- Requires water conservation or water use reductions over time
- Reduces water use certificates when transferred to new uses
- Is guided with input from local stakeholders and supported with technical assistance from the Arizona Department of Water Resources
All things considered, there are a lot of similarities on a framework for new water legislation.
That is why now is a great time to encourage your lawmakers to work together to find solutions for a new, flexible groundwater management tool for rural Arizona.
It is essential that we manage the water resources we have as wisely as possible—and managing groundwater in more parts of Arizona would be a big accomplishment towards meeting that objective.
You can let your lawmakers know this issue is important to you, and we should solve it—this legislative session.
The species below are some of the birds that rely on habitat within the Chiricahua Mountain Important Bird Area, located in the San Simon Valley Groundwater Basin (which currently does not have any groundwater protections).
