(The Center Square) – After years of debate on how to handle the strain on the Willcox basin in Cochise County, the Arizona Department of Water Resources has started the process of enacting an Active Management Area in the basin.
“When I traveled to Willcox, I heard stories from farmers, local well owners, and a bipartisan group of elected officials who are concerned about their community’s future because of groundwater depletion,” said Gov. Katie Hobbs in an Oct. 23 press release. “I saw dried up wells, fissures in the earth, and farms struggling to survive because of unchecked pumping of the precious water that Arizonans rely on.”
Some have spoken out against AMAs in basins where agriculture is one of the main water users, saying that it puts too many restrictions on farming which drives the economy in many of these areas.
“Cuts of water use at 10% could cost millions of dollars to the agricultural economy in the area,” said Phil Bashaw, CEO of the Arizona Farm Bureau Federation. “Agriculture in the Willcox basin in particular, is a huge part of the economy down there. So, the imposition of new regulatory structures on that industry is going to have an impact.”
Voters in the area voted against establishing an AMA in the Willcox basin during the 2022 midterm election.
Most of rural Arizona’s groundwater lies outside of an AMA or an Irrigation Non-Expansion Area, meaning that the water supply is neither monitored nor regulated. However, the ADWR periodically monitors the basin levels in rural areas. While this data is sparse, the ADWR can be sure that the demands on rural basins outweigh the supply.
The biggest draw on rural basins is agriculture as commercial farming is one of the biggest economic drivers in those communities, with agricultural use of rural basins reaching up to 99% of the overall groundwater use.
Bashaw said that he believes that the groundwater in rural areas does need to be monitored, but that there needs to be another type of groundwater management plan, such as SB 1221 which was proposed by Republicans in this year’s legislative session.
SB 1221 would restrict all users of the Gila Bend, Hualapai Valley and Willcox basins if it is determined by an established board that the basin needs to be managed. If a basin management area is enacted, those users of the basin will be granted a water right certificate, outlining how many acre-feet they are awarded. Additionally, the bill would shut down the basins to prevent further drilling or expansion and prohibit the moving or selling of water.
However, this bill did not go through due to there not being enough support from Democrats, saying that there was too much “red tape.”
Earlier this year, Hobbs said that if the legislature did not come up with a way to manage rural groundwater, she would take action.
“For too long, politicians have stuck their heads in the sand and refused to take action to fix the problems Arizonans face,” Hobbs said. “I won’t. I know protecting our water isn’t a Democratic or a Republican issue, it’s an Arizona issue. I will continue to put politics aside and work across the aisle to deliver the solutions Arizonans are desperate for.”
While the Arizona Farm Bureau stands firm in their stance that AMAs would be harmful to the agricultural producers that use the Willcox basin, others in the industry have spoken out in support of an AMA.
“We support and welcome this step taken towards protecting our water supplies,” reads a statement from Mark Jorve, owner of Zarpara Vineyard. “As a small business vineyard in the Willcox groundwater basin we’ve experienced firsthand the alarming declines in our local water levels due to decades of unchecked, unlimited groundwater pumping. An AMA designation would finally put us on a path to stabilizing this precious and shared resource to safeguard local growers and business owners.”
Zarpara doesn’t speak for other vineyard owners. The Arizona Wine Growers Association characterized an AMA in Willcox as a bureaucratic governor on the growth of the state’s burgeoning wine industry that brings tourist dollars into the rural area.
Democrats are also supporting this decision saying that it was necessary due to the Republican-led legislature.
“Arizonans are suffering under years of Republican refusal to bring our water laws into the 21st century,” said Sen. Priya Sundareshan. “The Willcox Basin is one of three most dangerously jeopardized in Arizona. I celebrate ADWR’s action here and believe rural Arizonans deserve sound water management and protective actions based on data.”
The AMA is not final yet. The ADWR will be holding a public hearing on Nov. 22, 2024 at 1 p.m. in the Willcox Community Center. After which, the ADWR will determine if the Willcox basin meets the requirements necessary to designate it as an AMA.
