Potential Changes to Arizona’s Water Management Under New Leadership
As the race for governor in Arizona heats up, Congressman Andy Biggs has indicated potential shifts in groundwater management policies if he wins the election. Biggs has expressed intentions to possibly reverse some of the groundwater protection measures established by current governor Katie Hobbs.
Governor Hobbs, a Democrat, has managed to implement certain water management initiatives despite the Republican-led state Legislature. Under her leadership, the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) has established two “active management areas” (AMAs) aimed at regulating groundwater extraction. These areas are located in the Willcox basin in southern Arizona and the Ranegras Plain basin in the western part of the state.
Biggs has questioned the effectiveness of these AMAs, particularly the one in Cochise County, which encompasses the Willcox basin. “We’ll have to see how they’re working,” Biggs commented. “I mean she [Hobbs] has put in a new AMA down in Cochise County that I’m not sure is working well at all. We’ll have to evaluate that very carefully.”
The establishment of the Willcox AMA was a contentious issue, as local residents had previously voted against it in a 2022 ballot measure. However, ADWR proceeded to implement it unilaterally in 2024, as detailed in this report.
While Biggs acknowledges the importance of groundwater protection, he also believes Arizona should increase groundwater extraction. He argues that the state faces more of a water management issue than a supply shortage, advocating for investment in new infrastructure to tap into Arizona’s groundwater reserves. “We have a lot of it, we’re going to make it useful. That means you gotta have the infrastructure and you’ve gotta have the management,” he stated.
Arizona is home to eight AMAs, most of which were established under the 1980 Groundwater Management Act, primarily targeting urban areas like Phoenix and Tucson. The need for a different approach in rural areas is a point of bipartisan agreement. However, a consensus on what that approach should be has yet to be reached, despite efforts by former state Sen. Sine Kerr to introduce a Republican-supported alternative plan.
Kerr, now running alongside Biggs as his choice for lieutenant governor, announced plans to gather water experts to devise a “long-term water strategy” for the state. This initiative aims to address the shortcomings of existing AMAs in rural regions.
Governor Hobbs has also been proactive in water policy, establishing the Governor’s Water Policy Council in her first month in office to evaluate groundwater management strategies. Initially, Kerr was part of this council but resigned in October 2023, citing insufficient consideration for agricultural interests, as reported here.
—
Read More Arizona News
