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ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESFifty-seventh Legislature First Regular Session |
House: NREW DP 5-4-1-0 |
HB 2203: historical water use; subsequent AMA
Sponsor: Representative Griffin, LD 19
Caucus & COW
Overview
Extends the time period that is used when determining eligibility for continued groundwater use or volume of groundwater use for an active management area (AMA) or subsequent AMA designation.
History
After the initiation of the procedures for designating a subsequent AMA or for the call of an election to establish an AMA an irrigation user is only permitted to irrigate on land that was irrigated at any time during the five years preceding the beginning of the designation process.
This limitation exists until either the Director of the Department of Water Resources (ADWR) makes a final determination or the results of the election to establish the AMA are certified (A.R.S. § 45-416).
Type 1 non-irrigation grandfathered rights are associated with retired irrigated land and in a subsequent AMA have the right to withdraw the lesser of three acre-feet per acre per year or the average annual amount of groundwater used per acre during the five years prior to when the land was retired (A.R.S. § 45-463).
A person who owns land from which groundwater was being withdrawn and used for non-irrigation purposes as of the date of AMA designation can have a Type 2 non-irrigation grandfathered right which can look at the five years preceding the designation to determine the right to withdraw (A.R.S. § 45-464).
Provisions
1. Increases the number of years prior to a designation of a subsequent AMA or AMA that are used to determine eligibility for both irrigation and non-irrigation groundwater rights from five years to ten years. (Sec. 1,2, 3, 4, 5 and 6)
2. Makes technical and conforming changes. (Sec. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6)
3. Contains a retroactivity clause of August 30, 2022. (Sec. 7)
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HB 2203
Initials CW Page 0 Caucus & COW
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