Arizona agency takes action to regulate groundwater use in rural southeast
PHOENIX — It is necessary to regulate groundwater in the rural southeastern part of the stateallowing the designation of a controlled area to stem the rapid depletion of water from agricultural use, the Arizona Department of Water Resources announced Friday.
The department’s director, Tom Buschatzke, said data analysis of hydrologic conditions in the state’s Willcox Basin shows the conditions are met “to take the necessary steps to defend our groundwater resources for future generations.”
Under state law, Buschatzke is authorized as a director to assign what is known as an “active management area” for the Willcox Groundwater Basin in Cochise and Graham counties in Arizona.
“As my staff has made clear at public hearings in Willcox and in response to comments on our presentations from members of the public, hydrologic conditions in the basin meet regulatory requirements,” he said in a statement.
The designation was made Dec. 1, after a public hearing and a vote by area residents, according to a statement from the water agency. During that period, the basin was closed to new agricultural uses while the department decided whether to create the management area southeast of Tucson so it could set goals for the well-being of the basin and its aquifers.
Gov. Katie Hobbs and the state water resources agency have been under pressure from local residents to deal with the problems groundwater depletion.
Hobbs praised the designation on Friday.
“I have heard from families, farmers and businesses who have experienced the devastating effects of uncontrolled pumping by irresponsible large corporations,” he said. “Their wells are dry, their homes are damaged by cracks in the earth, and their Boers are barely making ends meet.”
High pumping rates can dry up wells and cause the ground to collapse, damaging roads and other property. According to a report from the Department of Water Resources, between 2000 and 2020, 26 wells in the basin that are regularly measured have fallen 3 meters to almost 43 meters.
Arizona agricultural interests have historically opposed groundwater pumping regulations, saying such a structure is too inflexible.
The Willcox Groundwater Basin Management Area is the first to be created by executive action since the passage of the Arizona Groundwater Management Act in 1980. Several other such areas in Arizona have been created by similar laws. The urban areas of Phoenix and Tucson have long been under groundwater management.