Arizona governor and water resources agency move to regulate rural groundwater pumping

PHOENIX — Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Arizona Department of Water Resources have made the first move toward regulating the use of groundwater in the state's rural southeast that is being rapidly being drawn down through agricultural use.

The state agency said Wednesday it will hold a public hearing Nov. 22 to present data and hear comments about the possibility of designating what is known as an “active management area” for the Willcox Groundwater Basin in Arizona's Cochise and Graham counties.

In the meantime, the basin is closed to new agriculture use while the department decides whether to create the management area southeast of Tucson that would allow it to set goals for the well-being of the basin and its aquifers.

High rates of pumping can dry up wells and cause the ground to collapse, damaging roads and other property. According to a water resources department report, 26 wells in the basin that are regularly measured fell 10 feet (3 meters) to nearly 142 feet (43 meters) between the years 2000 and 2020.

Arizona farm interests have historically opposed groundwater pumping regulations, saying such a structure is too inflexible.

Hobbs and the state water resources agency have been under pressure by local residents to deal with the groundwater depletion.

If approved, the Willcox Groundwater Basin management area would be the first formed by executive action since approval of Arizona's Groundwater Management Act in 1980. Several other such areas in Arizona were created by laws. The urban areas of Phoenix and Tucson have long been under groundwater management.

A Douglas Basin management area south of Willcox was the first established through the citizen petition and election process in 2022. A citizens initiative to establish one in the Willcox Basin failed overwhelmingly at the ballot box in November 2022.