Arizona agency establishes Willcox groundwater protection area. Farmers, GOP say they went too far

For the first time in Arizona history, the head of the state water agency has established a new groundwater protection area.

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs announced in October that the Arizona Department of Water Resources was starting the process of making an Active Management Area in the Willcox basin to regulate groundwater pumping.

The governor’s spokesperson, Christian Slater, said Hobbs is stepping in due to the Republican legislators’ inaction.

“Gov. Hobbs is the type of leader who is not going to delay action because she knows this is such an important policy for the people of the Willcox basin,” Slater said.

This announcement follows months of unsuccessful negotiations between Democrats and Republicans to try and create an alternative to Active Management Areas that would be tailored to rural Arizona specifically and places like the Willcox basin, which is in southeast Arizona.

“We know the AMA is not the answer for this, the AMA is not the answer for the Gila Bend Basin and so we’re gonna continue to work on a better answer,” Sen.-elect Tim Dunn (R-Yuma) said.

Slater says that’s still on the table for the upcoming legislative session.

Legislative Democrats Sens. Priya Sundareshan (D-Tucson) and Christopher Mathis (D-Tucson) stood behind the designation.

“The impacts of severe groundwater depletion in rural Arizona can no longer be ignored,” Mathis said in a statement. “I applaud Governor Hobbs and ADWR for their continued strong leadership with this historic AMA designation. … At the same time, we must continue to work toward bipartisan groundwater management reform legislation to provide rural areas additional, locally driven tools to preserve and protect our precious water resources for future generations."

“As my staff has made clear in public hearings held in Willcox and in response to comments on our presentations from members of the public, the hydrologic conditions in the basin meet the statutory requirements,” said Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke in a statement.