PHOENIX — State Rep. Lupe Diaz, R-Benson, is introducing a number of pieces of legislation intended to have a big impact on water regulation.
- HB 2548 would only allow the director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources to declare an Active Management Area following a majority vote of the water basin’s electorate.
- HB 2549 would allocate funding to the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority to be used as grants for persons who own land where an Active Management Area has been declared.
- HB 2550 would shut down the Department of Water Resources effective July 1, 2026, two years earlier than scheduled.
- HB 2551, which would allow current water users in the Willcox basin to apply to continue drawing water as a grandfathered right.
- HB 2692 would cut the budget of the Arizona Department of Water Resources to $13.3 million annually. For the current fiscal year, ending in June, ADWR requested $65.2 million.
All of Diaz’s bills except HB 2692 have been assigned to both the Rules, and the Natural Resources, Energy and Water committees for hearings.
During a Jan. 3 appearance at Eastern Arizona College, Diaz, along with seatmate Rep. Gail Griffin, R-Hereford, and state Sen. David Gowan, R-Sierra Vista, said there would be pushback on Gov. Katie Hobbs and ADWR declaring an Active Management Area for the Willcox basin on Dec. 20, 2024.
“The people of this state decisively rejected the establishment of anti-housing growth boundaries in 2000 with the ‘Growing Smarter’ initiative. Similarly, in 2022, the residents of Willcox overwhelmingly rejected the establishment of an Active Management Area in their basin. Despite this, ADWR has unilaterally moved forward with both initiatives, ignoring the Legislature, and circumventing the clear will of the people. This type of overreach is an affront to everything we stand for as a state and must be accounted for,” Diaz said in a prepared statement.
An AMA 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.
In 2022, voters in the Willcox and Bonita areas voted against declaration of an AMA for the Willcox Basin by an almost two-to-one margin, with 2,443 votes against the AMA and 1,461 in favor.
Diaz’s district includes Graham, Greenlee and Cochise counties.
