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GOP lawmakers criticize new Arizona rules allowing development in groundwater-depleted areas

Siphons shifting water
Casey Kuhn/KJZZ
Siphons shift a mix of groundwater and CAP water from a ditch to a wheat field in Casa Grande.

At a hearing on Monday, Republican-led committees at the state Capitol voiced their disapproval of a recent rule change allowing certain kinds of development in groundwater-low areas, for a steep offset price.

Arizona’s water agency celebrated the new rules last week, which went into immediate effect, to the chagrin of many opponents - including Republican lawmakers.

Due to low groundwater levels in the Phoenix and Pinal County metro areas, building has been restricted. The new rules give providers a way to build, but it’s much more expensive.

Some Democrats, like Rep. Stacey Travers (D-Phoenix), said that the rules are important for conservation.

“Seven generations down the road, I don’t want a whole bunch of Rio Verdes everywhere just so we could make a quick buck building homes in 2024,” she said.

GOP lawmakers have accused Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and the state’s water agency of being anti-growth, and of stretching their power to create these new rules which they argue amount to a new and unjustified water tax. Something they’ve even said is illegal.

“Who knows what is going to happen in 100 years in water-saving technology? I think it’s going to blow our minds,” outgoing Sen. Sine Kerr (R-Buckeye) told her colleagues.

Kerr argues the new rules are too extreme and that officials should remember Arizona has always been a great water manager.

“I think we need to dwell on the gravity of what unmet demand means,” Sen. Priya Sundareshan (D-Tucson) cautioned, emphasizing that the drop in groundwater levels can’t be put off in hopes of a better solution appearing down the road.

“Water is not getting any easier to find and that we have to start talking about the cost of providing water more regularly,” Sundareshan said.

Rep. Gail Griffin (R-Hereford), Rep. Tim Dunn (R-Yuma), and Kerr - the Republicans on the committee - all did not respond to requests for comment following the hearing.

They questioned why the Governor’s Regulatory Review Council (which approved the rule change) took a vote on the issue so quickly. Kerr said she finds it hard to believe that the Arizona Department of Water Resources didn’t pressure GRRC into pushing the rules through quickly.

The Republican lawmakers also questioned how ADWR came up with the 25% offset cost specifically, indicating that the number doesn’t appear to be based on anything scientific.

“This is a novel program and a novel concept,” ADWR Deputy Counsel Nicole Klobas said. “It’s one that can be effective and its one that can be approved upon later in the future.”

Klobas noted that for municipalities who serve as water providers, the customers/voters will get some say in their water security through the election process.

One of the main opponents of the new rules is the Homebuilders Association.

Spencer Kamps, the vice president of legislative affairs at the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona, argues it’s not fair for homebuilding to have to meet the same offset burden as other types of building such as commercial and industrial, which use far more groundwater.

“It’s quite frankly anti-housing,” Kamps told the lawmakers. “How can we not feel that way?”

Kamps warned that the water costs will be passed on to homebuyers, resulting in “California” prices. He asks that homebuilding be treated differently.

Sundareshan disagreed. She said laws should hold everyone to the same standard.

At the end of the hearing, Griffin, the co-chair of the committee, suggested having another meeting before the legislative session starts in January.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The story has been updated to correct the names of Spencer Kamps and the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona.

More water news

Camryn Sanchez is a field correspondent at KJZZ covering everything to do with state politics.