Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs signed a bill on Monday allowing those who use the Douglas Active Management Area groundwater another six months to apply for grandfathered rights.
House Bill 2016 is an emergency measure backed by Rep. Gail Griffin, R-Hereford, in hopes to give people more time to adjust to the fact that the basin became an AMA in December 2022. An AMA means it is under more regulations involving the “withdrawal and use of groundwater,” according to an Arizona Department of Water Resources document.
“Since the day I took office I’ve made clear my commitment to supporting rural communities in managing their groundwater,” Hobbs said in a statement on Monday. “This legislation will give Douglas AMA water users more time to submit their water right applications to ADWR, and I’m confident that these local leaders who have volunteered to serve on the Groundwater Users Advisory Council will provide invaluable input as the water conservation programs are developed for the basin.”
In a statement, Griffin criticized making the Douglas groundwater basin an AMA in the first place and said that making sure people can apply for grandfathered rights through the Arizona Department of Water Resources is necessary.
“Recognizing grandfathered private property rights to groundwater that was being used prior to the designation of the Active Management Area is essential to maintaining the long-term economic health and property tax base of the county and to providing certainty for individual groundwater users in the basin,” Griffin stated.
“Residents in the Douglas basin must navigate a complex web of red tape to obtain a grandfathered right, and this makes it challenging for residents to take the steps necessary to defend their own interests,” the Republican added.
The basin covers a significant area of southern Arizona in which many farmers and ranchers reside.
I live in an AMA and hold grandfathered rights. It’s a bureaucratic nuisance, but it does result in a lot more information about how much water is being pulled out of the ground and how it’s being used, and the taxes are trivial compared to the value of the water.
Considering the outcry about Saudi alfalfa farms I think AMA’s are a good tool to keep track of our water usage.
WOW! How differently Douglas and Wilcox have been treated compared to Gila Bend. Both Douglas and Wilcox were allowed to have an area wide vote about an AMA. Hobbs and her administration want to shove one down the throat of Gila Bend. They tried to hold covert meetings about the Gila River Basin without ever advising the only municipality in that basin. Every time they have allowed entities to take water from the Gila River, which re-generates the basin, Gila Bend has asked how that would affect their basin. Always being told it would have no impact. Then out of the blue they scream we have to, right now, assign an AMA to the basin. Yeah right! what’s the ulterior motive! There is definitely one considering they tried to hide the fact they were pushing this and, in the 40+ years the law has been in place they have never tried to force it on a community. This definitely explains why Gila Bend is trying a hail mary to get a candidate on the ballot for LD23 State Senate after the current one played party politics instead of supporting his constituents. Had the Arizona Department of Water Resorces (ADWR) advised Gila Bend when they started this process the Town could have been able to bring in their own hydrologists to go over the data. This goes well beyond frustrating!!!!