WILLCOX — On Tuesday, the Arizona Department of Water Resources held a community meeting on water issues that could affect southern Graham County.
Enough signatures were collected to put the issue on the ballot in November on whether an Active Management Area should be established in the Wilcox Basin. The Wilcox Basin includes Bonita and Sunset in Graham County, Wilcox in Cochise County, Kansas Settlement, Dragoon, Sunsite, and Pierce.
The AMA regulates groundwater access and withdrawal, sets conservation measures, and monitors impacts from wells.
The limit is already felt. Once the election call is made, the land may not be irrigated unless it has been legally irrigated in the five years preceding the election call. This restriction will remain in place if voters support her AMA and will be removed if voters reject her AMA.
Actively managed areas allow landowners to use wells for purposes other than irrigation as long as the maximum pump capacity of the well is no more than 35 gallons per minute and permission is obtained from the Arizona Department of Water Resources.
There are some exceptions to the limit, particularly in certain areas where water rights are grandparents, and for landowners who have made significant capital investments within a five-year period.
There are currently five active administrative areas in the state: Phoenix, Tucson, and Prescott. Pinal County and Santa Cruz County. There are also his three irrigated non-expansion areas of Douglas, Halkahala and Joseph City.
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