On Tuesday, Speaker of the House Ben Toma and Senate President Warren Petersen took steps to address Arizona’s water concerns. The leaders announced the formation of the Joint Legislative Study Committee on Water Security.
The ad hoc committee is tasked with studying Arizona’s water resources and address the direction the state may want to go to help strengthen Arizona’s existing water supplies and secure Arizona’s water future.
The Legislative Water Committee will be comprised of six elected members, three from the House and three from the Senate. Representative Gail Griffin and Senator Sine Kerr, chairs of the House and Senate Natural Resources, Energy and Water Committees, will serve as co-chairs to the new joint committee.
Additional members are expected to be appointed by Speaker Toma and President Petersen soon.
“The availability of water for the success of all industries in our state is critical to our economy,” said Toma. “Strengthening our existing water resources while we secure our future water supply is a top priority as we work to achieve common-sense solutions for our state. We need to study all issues related to water carefully and work to identify any remaining issues that need to be resolved.”
“Water policy is dictated by statute,” said Petersen. “From the 1980s Groundwater Management Act to last year’s historic investment in WIFA, the Legislature has led and will continue to lead the water policy solutions that require legislative action to implement.”
“Arizona must take an ‘all of the above’ approach to water and find a balance that protects private property rights while promoting the interests and economy of the state,” said Griffin. “This includes urban and rural, augmentation and conservation, and surface and groundwater, not to mention residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural users and property rights across all land types. I appreciate Speaker Toma for affording the opportunity to explore this issue and for making water a top priority in this legislative session.”
“Unlike other ‘top-down’ efforts, this Ad Hoc Committee on Water Security will enlist the participation of actual water users to find collaborative water management solutions,” said Kerr. “The Legislature will continue to be proactive and deliberative in balancing the realities of our water supply with the state’s economic objectives.”