Arizona legislators are hoping that Governor Katie Hobbs will sign the only bills that address domestic water wells this session because in rural Arizona, shallow domestic wells—typically between 100 and 300 feet deep—are going dry.
Republican legislators say Governor Katie Hobbs has an opportunity to take immediate action by signing three bills that directly address what they say is a “growing crisis and provide safe, reliable, long-term water access for rural residents.”
HB2086 provides funds to low- and fixed-income residents to purchase and install storage tanks that can be used to receive water by truck (also known as water hauling) when private wells go dry.
SB1444 allows Domestic Water Improvement Districts (also known as DWIDs) in the Willcox and Douglas Active Management Areas to be established for the purpose of constructing a single well and standpipe for the purpose of providing water to communities.
HB2274 allows the residents of Sunsites, Sunizona, and other areas on the Cochise County side of the Willcox groundwater basin to vote to establish a DWID, providing a source of water for local residents facing challenges with domestic wells.
Combined, says Representative Gail Griffin, these bills address both ends of supply and demand equation in rural areas and are the only bills that have been introduced that address domestic wells.
SB1444 addresses the supply side by ensuring that a well of sufficient depth can be constructed to support water hauling, while HB2086 addresses the demand side by ensuring that residents have the storage tanks they need to receive hauled water. HB2274 ties it all together by putting both ends of the supply and demand equation into action in the Willcox basin.
Griffin argues that without these solutions, residents are left with few options to obtain certainty and peace of mind when domestic wells run dry, which include drilling new wells or deepening existing wells at substantial cost. These options are untenable for many rural residents, as many rural residents are on low- to moderate- incomes and fixed-incomes and cannot afford to drill a deeper well.
Some residents, in desperation, have turned to lobbying the government to pass laws that would force other water users to cut back, believing that groundwater levels might increase if other users used less. Griffin and her fellow Republicans say these beliefs, however, are not consistent with science (as it could take years to see results after legislation is passed), and radical environmentalist proposals (such as the Environmental Defense Fund’s “Rural Groundwater 1 Management Act“ concept, which requires up to 40 percent mandatory reductions over 40 years), would not provide the immediate relief that residents are expecting nor prevent additional wells from going dry.
Griffin believes such legislation would devastate rural economies and reduce the funds that would be available to local residents to help address domestic wells, while also reducing local property tax bases to local governments and eliminating jobs for working families.
Griffin believes that if Hobbs signs these bills, “she will be taking action to provide an immediate solution for residents facing challenges with domestic wells as lawmakers continue to work with stakeholders and the Governor on additional groundwater legislation, allowing residents not to have to go another year drilling deeper wells or being forced to make decisions about the area they love. Governor Hobbs has an opportunity to address domestic wells immediately. All she has to do is sign HB2086, SB1444, and HB2274.”
if it’s your well – it’s your well – not our well..