A new bill in the Arizona Senate faced opposition this week from officials in Yavapai, Coconino, La Paz and Mojave counties, but local leaders are seeking solutions to extend local groundwater supplies. are doing.
The bill, known as SB 1221, was introduced late last month by Arizona State Sen. Cine Carr and would allow Arizona communities to replace traditional active management areas to reduce pressure on groundwater supplies across the state. This will enable the creation of groundwater basin management areas.
These watershed management areas will be managed by local councils of elected officials who will make recommendations for future groundwater practices. The BMA would apply reductions that would apply to all water users within a community, not just agriculture, but would be voluntary on the part of each community.
To overcome restrictions on groundwater, local stakeholders will be able to purchase credits for additional groundwater use under the law.
The concept of “watershed management areas” was proposed last year after recommendations from the Arizona Department of Agriculture. But opponents of the bill say it would only expand the size of Arizona's government, do little to actually promote conservation, and create a new political branch.
Mohave County Supervisor Travis Lingenfelter commented on the bill Friday.
“SB 1221 will not be good for Mohave County, especially the Kingman area,” Lingenfelter said. “It's basically handing over our water to the corporate culture that's been here for the past nine years.”
According to Highground, until 2014, Mohave County had very few large-scale agricultural operations. In the decade since, California farming operations and Fondomonte Arizona, a subsidiary of Saudi-based Almarai, have found a home in Mojave County. The clear result is that agriculture accounted for about 70 percent of Mohave County's total water use as of last year.
“They were the last ones here after (other stakeholders),” Lingenfelter said. “But they use the majority of their water from the Hualapai groundwater basin (Kingman's primary water supply). Now, SB 1221 would quantify water certificates and expand this water market. … If the city of Kingman wants to grow, it needs to go to the farms and buy water credits at taxpayer expense.”
Lingenfelter co-authored an op-ed for the Arizona Republic on Thursday with Yavapai County Supervisor Donna Michaels, La Paz County Supervisor Holly Irwin, Coconino County Supervisor Patrice Horstman and others. In its publication, regulators noted that BMAs authorized under SB 1221 provide less protection for local groundwater than traditional AMAs, but are insufficient to extend local groundwater protections throughout the state. He pointed out that another solution was needed.
“Groundwater deficits in the Hualapai Basin are reaching 30,000 acre-feet per year, and we need to have fairer, more balanced, and better solutions for all of our people. SB 1221 is more than just a bill written specifically for the Farm Bureau.”
Arizona Attorney General Chris Mays shared Lingenfelter's views earlier this week in a statement Tuesday in Phoenix.
“SB 1221 establishes a bureaucratic web of undefined processes that poses intolerable challenges to developing fair and impactful water policy,” Mays said. “This bill also threatens to disenfranchise multiple stakeholders across Arizona, from residents to municipalities to businesses. We urge Congress to refocus its energies on meaningful conservation and management solutions that protect and sustain our communities.”
The bill received its first reading in the Arizona Senate on January 29, and senators have been divided on it ever since. The bill passed the Senate Natural Resources, Energy, and Water Committee on a 4-3 vote, and the Senate Appropriations Committee on a 5-3 vote.
Since SB 1221 was introduced, 59 stakeholders have spoken in favor of the bill, including representatives from the Arizona Farm Bureau, Arizona Farm and Ranch Group, and the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, according to Senate records. .
In response, 276 stakeholders opposed the bill, including former Arizona state Rep. Regina Cobb (R-Kingman), Mohave County Supervisor Buster Johnson, and Mohave County Supervisor Gene Bishop. exclaimed.
