Arizona’s Ground-Water Code In 1980, the state of Arizona passed a comprehensive new ground-water law designed to reduce the severe overdraft of ground water as well as to allocate the limited...

Arizona’s Ground-Water Code

In 1980, the state of Arizona passed a comprehensive new ground-water law designed to reduce the severe overdraft of ground water as well as to allocate the limited groundwater resources of the state (Ferris 1980; Tarlock 1985). A new state agency, the Department of Water Resources, was established to administer the code. Geographical areas known as Active Management Areas (AMAs) were established for those areas with severe overdraft problems. Within the designated AMAs, existing and future use of ground water is regulated. Ground-water users at the time the AMA was formed could claim a grandfather right. Persons can apply for a ground-water withdrawal permit for a new or expanded use for almost any purpose but irrigation. They must show that there is sufficient ground water available for the permit and that no water is available from other sources, such as the grandfather ground-water rights or the Central Arizona Project. Management plans must also be established for each AMA. For the three urban AMAs, the management plan has a goal of reducing ground-water withdrawals to the safe yield by 2025. In the agricultural AMA the goal is to preserve irrigated agriculture as long as possible while still preserving future water supplies for nonagricultural uses. Water conservation will be necessary to meet the goals of the management plans. The difference in urban-area water usage between Phoenix (267 gal, or 1011 L, per capita per day) and Tucson (160 gal, or 606 L, per capita per day) illustrates the possible scope of savings via conservation. However, the biggest potential savings is in agriculture; it accounts for 89% of the total water usage in the state. The real strength of the code is the provision that prohibits the establishment of new urban areas unless there is a 100-y supply of water available. This prevents new development of water-short areas and protects home buyers. For more information contact the website http://adwr.state.az.us/.