PHOENIX — Late last week, Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed four bills dealing with water, all of which were sponsored by legislators representing Cochise, Graham and Greenlee counties.
Hobbs vetoed House Bills 2271, 2573 and 2574 sponsored by Rep. Gail Griffin, R-Hereford; and House Bill 2552, sponsored by Rep. Lupe Diaz, R-Benson.
“Each of these bills has a connection with groundwater policy in rural Arizona. Yet again, I am disappointed that none of these bills would make a difference in solving the water policy challenges that Arizona residents and communities are facing today,” Hobbs said in her transmittal letter.
“I said in my State of the State: bills that are just political cover for the Legislature’s inaction on water security will meet my veto pen.”
HB 2271 would have amended the duties of the director of the state Department of Water Resources, HB 2551 would have grandfathered in water rights in the newly formed Willcox Active Management Area, HB 2573 would include irrigation of wine grapes and hydroponics as grandfathered uses of groundwater, and HB 2574 would allow for certain land subdivisions without an assured water supply.
Last December, the Arizona Department of Water Resources declared the Willcox Basin as an Active Management Area due to rapidly declining water levels. It’s the seventh AMA in Arizona, but the first to be declared by the state agency rather than a vote of the residents.
In a December appearance at Eastern Arizona College, both Diaz and Griffin said they would fight to overturn the AMA designation.
An Active Management Area regulates the access and withdrawal of groundwater, as well as sets conservation measures and monitors impact from wells.
In addition to Willcox, the basin includes Pearce, Sunsites and Dragoon in Cochise County; and Bonita and Sunset in Graham County.
