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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, First Regular Session
county
water authority; post-2024 authority
(NOW: county water authority; Harquahala INA)
Purpose
Allows for a county water authority to be formed in La Paz County and outlines the process for the establishment of a county water authority in La Paz County.
Background
Current statute allows for a county water authority to be formed in a county with a population of more than 90,000 people and fewer than 120,000 people. The members of a county water authority may include, municipal corporations in the county that: 1) had contracts with the United States for the delivery of Colorado River water as of January 1, 1993; and 2) have adopted resolutions approving the formation of the county water authority (A.R.S. § 45-2202).
County water authorities may apportion Colorado River water, water credits or effluent that it obtains between municipal and industrial uses in the manner that the county water authority determines to be appropriate after considering the water needs of the county in which the authority is formed. A county water authority may also contract with the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District (CAGRD) or its successors or with subcontractors of CAGRD or their successors for the delivery to the county water authority of Colorado River water available to the Central Arizona Project (A.R.S. § 45-2245).
A political subdivision of Arizona that owns land eligible to be irrigated in the Harquahala Irrigation Non-Expansion Area (INA) may withdraw groundwater from the land for transportation to a location, if: 1) before the withdrawal of groundwater, the eligible entity installs water measuring devices, or other similarly reliable and accessible methods as approved by the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) to determine the volume of groundwater withdrawn from all relevant wells and transported out of the Harquahala INA by pipelines, canals or conduits; 2) within 30 days after the withdrawal of groundwater from the Harquahala INA the eligible entity submits a statutorily outlined monthly report to ADWR; and 3) other statutorily outlined requirements are met (A.R.S. § 45-554).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Allows for a county water authority to be formed in La Paz County.
2. Allows the members of a water authority in La Paz County to include eligible entities that:
a) own acres or have adopted plans to acquire acres that may be irrigated in the Harquahala INA;
b) have adopted resolutions approving the formation of the authority; and
c) are not the state.
3. Requires a county water authority to be formed in La Paz County on the occurrence of the adoption of resolutions approving the county water authority's formation by two or more statutorily outlined eligible entities.
4. Requires one of the statutorily outlined eligible entities to be the La Paz County Board of Supervisors.
5. Requires a municipal corporation and a statutorily outlined eligible entity, rather than just the municipal corporation, to jointly appoint a person to represent the municipal corporation on the authority.
6. Requires the board for a county water authority in La Paz County to select a chairperson and officers as needed from among the county water authority's appointed directors.
7. Allows a county water authority to apportion groundwater from the Harquahala INA.
8. Allows the county water authority to contract for eligible acres in or groundwater from the Harquahala INA.
9. Allows a county water authority to enter into subcontracts with the county water authority members and other water providers in the county where the county water authority is formed for the sale, exchange or other disposition of groundwater from the Harquahala INA.
10. Exempts a county water authority in La Paz County from the statutorily outlined requirements relating to monies being deposited in the county authority's grant fund.
11. Allows for all transportation fees paid to a county water authority in La Paz County to be deposited in the Grant Fund, Water Acquisition Fund or Operating Fund as determined by the board of the county water authority.
12. Requires all revenues of the county water authority, for a county water authority that is formed in a county with a population of fewer than 90,000 people, to be deposited in the Grant Fund, Water Acquisition Fund or Operating Fund as determined by the board of the county water authority.
13. Stipulates that requirements relating to the formation of the county water authority on the occurrence of outlined events and the acquisition and disposition of initial quantity of water do not apply to a county water authority in La Paz County.
14. Makes technical and conforming changes.
15. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
House Action
NREW 2/20/25 DPA/SE 8-0-0-2
3rd Read 3/4/25 44-14-2
Prepared by Senate Research
March 21, 2025
SB/slp