Legislation
is moving through the Arizona House that would help to address the
state’s recurrent drought and dwindling water supplies.
“All
Arizonans should have a local, clean water supply,” stated Lela
Prashad, Public Interest Advocate for the Arizona Public Interest
Research Group (Arizona PIRG). “To do nothing is sure to invite future
shortages and put unneeded strain on our water systems and our
environment. Our decision makers must act now to ensure our water needs
can stand up to Arizona’s current and future growth.”
Today,
in over 80% of the state, large subdivisions can be built with hundreds
of thousands of houses —even if the state declares the water supply of
the region to be inadequate. In addition, there is a tremendous lack of
knowledge about how quickly groundwater levels are being lowered and
people can buy homes in parts of the state without knowing that their
water supply is inadequate. Several pieces of legislation have been
introduced that are steps in the right direction:
Regional Planning for Water Resources - HB2294 and HB2463
HB2294 Sponsor: Representative O’Halleran
HB2463 Sponsors: Representatives O'Halleran, Groe, Hershberger, Jones, Kirkpartick
These
bills require the cities and towns that must include water resources in
their general plans to project water demand for the next 20 years.
These bills require that cities outside an Active Management Area (AMA)
plan for water use in coordination with other governing bodies in the
same groundwater basin with regards to water supplies, conservation
efforts, and drought management efforts. They also require cities that
do not have general plans to collaborate and provide information to
other governing bodies in their region. These measures are needed to
empower governing bodies outside the AMAs to sustainably plan their
water use. HB2463 provides funding for HB2294.
HB2294
passed the Natural Resources and Agriculture Committee and the Rules
Committee and is headed for a vote on the House floor. HB2463 passed
the Natural Resources and Agriculture Committee and the Commerce
Committee and is headed to Appropriations.
Water Supply Notification – HB2431
Sponsors: Representatives Mason, Burns, Burton Cahill, Chase, Downing,
Kirkpatrick, Meza, Miranda, O'Halleran, Pearce, Quelland, Rios, Sinema
This
bill would require information on a property’s water supply to be made
available to buyers for areas that have not been subdivided. Buyers
would also be informed who to go to if the property does not have a
water supply determination. Currently, only initial buyers must receive
this information. This legislation passed the Natural Resources and
Agriculture Committee and the Rules Committee and is headed for a vote
on the House floor.
Statewide Groundwater Level Monitoring – HB 2775
Sponsors: Representatives O'Halleran, Allen, Chase, Jones, Kirkpatrick, Mason, McLain
This
bill requires ADWR to establish a statewide, automated groundwater
monitoring system so ADWR can monitor the hydrologic behavior of
groundwater basins, assess changing groundwater levels over time,
construct water budgets, and develop drought and water conservation
plans. This is a needed tool to determine how much water is available
for Arizona.
This legislation passed the Natural Resources and Agriculture Committee and is headed to Appropriations.
“We
need to pass water legislation that represents a comprehensive approach
to water management in rural Arizona integrating a sound,
regionally-based management philosophy, protections for private
property owners, and accurate data to base decisions on,” said
Representative Tom O’Halleran (R-Sedona).
Representative
Lucy Mason (R-Prescott) said, “All Arizonans deserve the right-to- know
about the adequacy of their water supplies. We need to pass legislation
to give more information to property buyers so that they can make an
informed decision.”
