The Arizona Department of Water Resources, known as ADWR, has taken the first step toward creating a new Active Management Area — basically a part of the state in which groundwater is regulated.
This is the second time ADWR has worked to do this. This new one is in La Paz County, while the first time was in Willcox, in southern Arizona. That action has proven to be controversial, though.
Camryn Sanchez from KJZZ’s Politics Desk joined The Show to explain more.
Full conversation
MARK BRODIE: Good morning, Camryn.
CAMRYN SANCHEZ: Good morning.
BRODIE: So let's start off with what exactly is an Active Management Area?
SANCHEZ: It's basically just a region where you pencil it off and say, "Everything in here is protected and the groundwater is restricted in terms of how much you're allowed to pump."
BRODIE: So there are different rules, basically, in these areas, and they tend to be in more urban areas of the state, at least until somewhat recently.
SANCHEZ: Right. So this was all started with the Groundwater Management Act of 1980, and that established our first few AMAs, but they were in urban areas, like you mentioned. So Tucson, Phoenix, Prescott and Pinal. Over the years, we've had a couple of others, but we haven't created many. And, as you mentioned, it is a controversial process. And Hobbs is doing something kind of unique by — her and her water agency — creating more. That's never happened before.
BRODIE: So do they actually have the authority to do that?
SANCHEZ: Well, there was some question about that. Republican lawmakers in particular were not really pleased with her doing this unilaterally, rather than, for example, going to the Legislature and coming up with some sort of bill, and then working on it and passing it with bipartisan support. And there was also some complaining, I think, from the agricultural industry, because agriculture is a huge water user, especially groundwater, in a lot of these rural areas. And this is going to hit them hard.
BRODIE: Well, so I mentioned that the Wilcox AMA designation has been controversial. Is that basically the reason why — those reasons you just outlined?
SANCHEZ: Yes, I know lawmakers for the last couple of years have tried to come up with an alternative to AMAs, which would be specific to rural areas, like a rural management area plan. And everyone sort of agrees that that's a good idea, including the governor, but they have not been able to come to an agreement. So AMAs are basically the only tool in the toolbox, so to speak, in terms of regulating groundwater.
BRODIE: And it's probably worth mentioning that there is one community that voted to put itself in an AMA.
SANCHEZ: Right, Douglas. And Douglas and Willcox actually voted on that at the same time for their respective basins, but Douglas was the only one that passed It Willcox voters said no. And then the governor came in — well, ADWR came in under her purview. And was like, "Actually, we are going to do this because you guys really need it."
BRODIE: So what is, like, what's the situation in this basin in La Paz County?
SANCHEZ: It's not great. The Department of Water Resources had studied a few groundwater basins to see how bad things were, and one of them was the Ranegras Plain Basin in La Paz County out in western Arizona. And levels have been dropping. There's an issue of land subsidence, which basically means when the water is being pumped up, the land starts to sink, which causes other problems. One of them is infrastructure, you know, it could damage roads. Another is that it's hard to ever recharge the aquifer again once the collapsing happens. So it's kind of permanently damaging the water basin there.
And so the situation is essentially bad. ADWR has now started the process of considering making an AMA. It's not set in stone. They don't necessarily have to make an AMA. They could stop the process, but they've taken that first step.
BRODIE: So what are the next steps after that?
SANCHEZ: The next step is to have community meetings. They're going to have one in December. They've already had one, sort of, preliminary meeting with the community stakeholders. And they're going to be going back out there and continuing that process.
BRODIE: What are folks in La Paz County saying? I mean, is this proving to be as controversial in that community as the Willcox Basin was?
SANCHEZ: I know at least some folks want it, but as you can imagine, it's a mixed bag. Some people are maybe uncomfortable with the idea of an AMA. They don't like the idea of their water use being restricted, understandably. But there are definitely a solid, you know, group of folks. Including politicians, La Paz County Supervisor Holly Irwin, who say, "No, we really need this. We need to do something. This is a serious situation. We'll take anything you can give us."
BRODIE: And agriculture is a pretty big deal in that part of the state also.
SANCHEZ: Right. Famously, that is the location of Fondomonte. Fondomonte is the Saudi Arabian company, and they farm alfalfa, which takes a lot of water, and they do actually farm in the Ranegras Plain Basin, which we're talking about. And that has been the subject of a lot of controversy, and even lawsuits. ... So I think that, you know, that's going to maybe perk up people's ears and be like, "Ah, Fondomonte. Restricting Fondomonte's water, that's important."
BRODIE: So you mentioned what the next steps are. Is there a timeline in terms of when we might know, yes, this basin will become an AMA, or, no, it won't?
SANCHEZ: Yeah, but it's going to be, I expect, in 2026 —
BRODIE: OK. So we have a little bit of time to worry about this.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
BRODIE: OK, fair enough. That is Camryn Sanchez from KJZZ's Politics Desk. Camryn, thank you, as always.
SANCHEZ: Thank you.
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