“ADWR has not conducted the hydrological surveys already required under the Groundwater Act in rural Arizona, and it is clear that they need to do so without delay,” Mays said.

“Investors and high water demanding crop growers are either depleting their own aquifers or simply taking advantage of our country’s lax water laws as much as possible. We have the funds to drill deeper and deeper meter wells, but smallholder farmers, ranchers and residents suffer from well dehydration and land subsidence, which is not sustainable for everyone.”

Mays said La Paz County faces the same problem as the state allowing Saudi- and UAE-owned companies to grow alfalfa in Arizona.

“The practice has led to the drilling of deep wells, dewatering and cracking the wells of nearby residents and ranchers, all for Saudi Arabia to send its alfalfa back to the Middle East for cattle feed.” has no meaning. it is not sustainable. ”

Mays vowed to void the land deal and stop such pumping operations after a review revealed discrepancies in a new well drilling application in La Paz county. Her investigation revealed that the company did not pay for the water it used. ADWR agreed to terminate the agreement.

“The very fact that voters here took matters into their own hands and created the AMA is a testament to the state’s failure to help local communities manage their groundwater supplies,” Mays said. emphasized.

“I know how important rural Arizona is to the state. I am here tonight because I am deeply concerned about this issue and concerned about your concerns.

“ADWR’s purpose should be to ensure that young people in Cochise County can stay in Cochise County for the rest of their lives, and for the lives of their children, if they so desire.”

ADWR has prepared a draft management objective for the Douglas AMA, stating: A few years later. ”

Those present at the hearings believed the target was not enough to stop groundwater loss.

“Without water, there is no economy. ADWR needs to work with small and medium-sized farmers to improve the welfare of their communities,” said Alice Hammers of McNeill.

She doesn’t like the word “attempt” in management objectives, and believes ADWR is more focused on ending the decades-long depletion of the aquifer that covers about half of the Sulfur Springs Valley from Sunsite to the Mexican border. I wanted to be specific. .

The Douglas Basin is home to many ranchers and small farm owners, some of whom have owned land for over 100 years and make a living from it.

Smallholder farming groups are concerned about losing water to large agricultural farms that use groundwater for irrigation. Residential groundwater users have similar concerns. Many have been forced to dig deeper wells, fetch water or sell their properties.

These are the reasons behind the grassroots effort to earn the state’s first citizen-led AMA designation. His five other AMAs in Arizona were set up by the state in 1980.

In a monumental effort, residents within the watershed have collected enough signatures to bring the bill before the public in the 2022 elections. It passed in November with 52.52% of the vote.

AMA establishes rules and regulations for large groundwater users with a focus on maintaining reliable water supplies. Wells with flows below 35 gallons per minute are not affected by AMA. Only a well user with a pump of 36 GPM or higher is required to meter the well and report its usage to her ADWR.

McNeill resident Michael Gregory agreed with Hames, saying that “the goal is not an ambitious ‘try’, but an aggressive ‘action’ to effectively prevent further groundwater loss in the short and long term.” ‘It should be and it should be.’ It is a way to protect and preserve traditional small family farm and ranch lifestyles and the watershed’s rural residential population profile.

“The goal should not be to achieve a planned depletion of the aquifer or any action that leads to it, but to prevent further decline, which was clearly stated by those who proposed and campaigned for the Douglas AMA in the first place. It was the purpose.

“The only water in this valley is groundwater pumped from wells. Sure, the drought that has been going on for over 20 years is part of the problem, but a much bigger part of it is that without state regulation, it would be much easier. Large industrial farms from states and counties with protective regulations have come in to take advantage of our policies.

Double Adobe Farm owner Jerry Gonzales grows pecans and irrigates pastures for his cows. He is concerned about his own and his neighbors’ water supplies.

“It’s not right to let people come in and drink our water. Get rid of the Cochise County megafarms,” ​​he said. “Our economy is based on small farmers and ranchers. Show me what you’re going to do when people come here and take our water.”

State legislators Gail Griffin and Lupe Diaz also drove from Phoenix to the border town to speak out. They did not understand why the boundaries of the Douglas Basin extended as far as Old Bisbee. The city gets its water from a well in Naco, Arizona, rather than a basin.

Diaz thought ADWR also needed to take into account that the basin does not end at the county line and heads south toward Mexico. He suggested that Mexico use groundwater in Acqua Prieta and parts of it to the south, and that ADWR should produce data showing water use there.

“Think about it,” he said. “We are punishing our own people.”

Water shortages and droughts are “not our fault,” he added.

Some people at the hearing agreed.

Diaz and Griffin are researching grants for rainwater harvesting in the Wilcox and Douglas basins. The Wilcox Basin was in worse shape than the Douglas Basin, and efforts were made to establish the Wilcox AMA, but it was not approved by voters, including parts of Graham County.

Griffin noted that the state has set aside $360 million to address water shortages in the state.

“We have funds for charging projects,” she said. “Ninety-five percent of precipitation evaporates before it hits the ground, and withdrawals are lower than they were 50 years ago.”

The amount of charge depends on the amount of precipitation. If it doesn’t rain, it won’t charge.

Ashe Dahlke, one of the organizers of the Arizona Water Defenders who started the effort, clarified: As we asked at our January meeting, it should be measurable. Residents need concrete solutions. Water belongs to the general public and they have a right to it. This goal is not very useful for watersheds. ”

As an emotional appeal, Elaine Bailey of Elfrida knows first-hand the consequences of high-intensity agricultural pumps. She said that when the petition to establish the AMA was submitted to and approved by the county, new fields would be plowed for orchards and vines and water would be available during a time when all agricultural activity was to cease. I’ve seen wells being drilled for

“How can this legally happen?” she asked. “Come down and let me show you what has been done since last August. This is our home. I live here.”

Riverview Dairy Company, the valley’s largest water user often blamed for lowering water tables in Douglas and Wilcox, said after reviewing some of the public comments online: Maintain the existing agricultural economy within the AMA for as long as possible, consistent with the need to maintain future water supplies for non-irrigation purposes. ”

Riverview proposed setting a 50-year AMA goal to allow time for technological advancement, development of drought-tolerant crop varieties, and deliberate and paced adaptation.

Also, “the clause to stop all agricultural irrigation when the level of the static aquifer reaches a certain point is also a fail-safe lever that can be pulled when recharge is not as strong as expected. It will help,” he suggested.

A group called the Farmers Coalition, which includes McNeil’s San Isidro Farm, Bowie’s Terry Family Farm, Elfrida’s Whitewater Farm, and Double Adobe Farm, has registered a concern with the AMA’s ADWR.

The Union said: “We represent generations of pioneer farms in the watershed, some of which have been in operation since the 1940s. , alfalfa, dried beans, corn, cotton, pecans, peppers, melons, root crops, winter squash, etc. The farm employs many jobs for the local community and its Our produce is fed not only to local ranchers, landlords, school districts, food banks and farmers markets, but also to large produce markets.We are truly rooted in our community’s heritage as an agricultural economy and its We are doing our best to survive.

“We farmers aim to maintain the economic viability of our farming operations by reducing our water use by 1% per year over the next 25 years, while at the same time aiming for the long-term water sustainability of our watersheds. We believe we can, but we would like to see an exception for farms under 200 acres where water use is minimal. In preparation, I propose that we meet every five years to re-evaluate this conservation approach.As lifelong residents of our communities, we are committed to ensuring that our children and future generations carry on our legacy. We recognize the need to preserve livelihoods, the backbone of our local economy, and our most precious resource, water, so that we can.”

“Agricultural production is the primary economic driver of the region and should be considered a central consideration in management objectives,” said Stephanie Smallhouse, president of the Arizona Agricultural Authority Federation. We believe that the goal should be to preserve as much of our future water resources as possible for agricultural uses and, in some cases, to be fairly transferable to other uses when those uses occur.

“While there are similar challenges between this basin and other basins under the AMA, there are significant differences that must be considered when establishing targets and subsequent management plans.

“Unlike other AMAs in the state, the Douglas area does not have access to Colorado River water supplied through the Central Arizona Project. This is important as we rely heavily on these water resources to meet our needs, and the scarcity of additional water resources should also be emphasized when setting targets for this region.”

ADWR AMA Project Manager Michelcy Bennally and Statewide Planning Manager John Riggins conducted the hearings. In their conclusion, they said, the suggestions and requests of those who have voiced comments, submitted comments or emailed them will be taken into account.

ADWR will finalize the plan within 30 days of the public hearing. It will be at the discretion of the organization whether or not to reflect the requests of the speakers and other commenters in the management plan.

Once the targets are met and hired, August may begin the management development process.