Bill > HB2731

This bill amends Arizona law regarding groundwater withdrawal from the Big Chino subbasin of the Verde River groundwater basin, providing detailed rules for cities and towns to extract and transport groundwater from historically irrigated lands. The bill allows cities or towns to withdraw groundwater up to two times their annual transportation allotment in a single year, and up to ten times that allotment over a ten-year period. The annual transportation allotment is calculated by multiplying the number of historically irrigated acres (land irrigated between 1975-1990) by three acre-feet per acre. Specifically for the Prescott active management area, the bill permits a city or town to withdraw and transport 8,068 acre-feet of groundwater per year, contingent upon relinquishing Central Arizona Project water and entering into a federally-approved Indian tribe water rights settlement. Additionally, the bill provides flexibility for additional groundwater withdrawal if a city or town delivers more than 231 acre-feet of water to an Indian tribe on its reservation. The bill clarifies definitions of terms like "documentary evidence," "farm," and "historically irrigated acres" and allows transported water to be used by any city, town, or Indian tribe in the Prescott active management area.

Agriculture and Natural Resources

https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/BillOverview/83009