The Arizona Department of Water Resources started accepting applications Friday from farmers who operate in areas where groundwater is protected.
The program is called ag-to-urban. It lets farmers sell their land and groundwater rights to housing developers.
The idea of ag-to-urban is to increase the state housing supply and conserve groundwater, because housing uses far less water than agriculture per acre. The legislation passed with bipartisan support last session and goes into effect now.
Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs touted the bill as “the most consequential piece of groundwater conservation legislation since the 1980 Groundwater Management Act.”
Hobbs’ office also projected that ag-to-urban “is projected to conserve nearly 10 million acre-feet over its lifetime and facilitate the development of tens of thousands of new homes.”
But ag-to-urban is a voluntary program, so its effectiveness depends on how many farmers choose to participate.
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State senators have concluded that the right to smoke marijuana ends where a neighbor's nose begins. -
A bipartisan group of state lawmakers advanced a measure on Monday that would preempt cities from blocking housing projects based on aesthetic preferences like the color of the walls or the slant of the roof. -
Cities and towns across Arizona would lose the ability to regulate some aspects of home design — both inside and out — under a bill scheduled to come up for debate in the state Senate on Monday. -
House Bill 2325, which was sponsored by a Republican, was sidelined after Rep. Jeff Weninger, who chairs the House Commerce Committee, decided not to give it a hearing. -
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes settled a lawsuit as part of her crackdown on rental price fixing. The settlement is with one of the largest landlords in the state.
