Arizona Department of Water Resources

GROUNDWATER USERS ADVISORY COUNCIL

Tucson Active Management Area

KENNETH SEASHOLES
Area Director


DEE T. O'NEILL
Chair

DAVID MODEER
Vice-Chair

JOHN MAWHINNEY

JON POST

CHUCK SWEET


Issue Summaries For Governor Janet Napolitano,
From the Groundwater Users Advisory Council,
Tucson Active Management Area

Water Listening Session, Tucson

December 14, 2004

•  Renewable Supplies

ISSUE

Achievement of the Tucson AMA's management goal—safe yield—requires extensive use of CAP water and effluent, but there are multiple constraints to current and future use.

BACKGROUND

For more than half a century the Tucson region has depended on unsustainable groundwater pumping to meet its municipal, agricultural and industrial demand. That overdraft condition led to the establishment of the Tucson AMA with safe yield—a long-term balance between withdrawals and natural and artificial recharge—as its goal. Utilization of effluent and CAP water will reduce overdraft, but there are significant impediments to fuller utilization.

The AMA now has eight operational CAP recharge facilities, and major planning efforts are underway for additional CAP use by the City of Tucson and the water providers in the northwest. CAP use for irrigation by the Tohono O'odham has also increased, and the Southern Arizona Water Rights Settlement Act (SAWRSA), which is part of the Arizona Water Rights Settlement Act recently signed by the President, will make even more CAP water available once state legislation is enacted. Use of reclaimed effluent also continues to expand and there has been meaningful regional cooperation on effluent recharge within the Santa Cruz River .

Fuller utilization of existing effluent and CAP will significantly reduce overdraft. However, there is a growing recognition that additional renewable supplies will be required. Competition for these additional supplies is likely to be intense, and there are unresolved legal issues surrounding many of them.

RECOMMENDATION

The Tucson AMA GUAC requests that ADWR and the Governor's Office reaffirm their commitment to safe yield by maintaining adequate staffing in the AMA and supporting regional, collaborative approaches to renewable supply utilization. Specific support is requested for the state legislation necessary to fully implement the SAWRSA settlement.

•  Conservation

ISSUE

Conservation has been a long-standing priority for the GUAC, but dwindling funds and one-size-fits-all regulatory programs hamper efforts in the Tucson AMA.

BACKGROUND

Conservation is strongly supported in the Tucson AMA. That support includes both ADWR's regulatory requirements, which apply to all water use sectors, and non-regulatory education and outreach efforts.

The AMA's Conservation and Augmentation Fund, which is generated from a portion of the fee paid by groundwater pumpers, has supported innovative research, outreach and education efforts. The Tucson GUAC has consistently recommended setting this fee at its maximum level—currently $0.50/AF—and has devoted considerable effort to ensure effective use of the Fund. However, annual revenues to the Fund are diminishing as renewable supply use gradually increases, and ADWR has directed more of the money for its own staff and operations. The Legislature has also taken money from the Fund, including up to $1.5 million from all of the AMAs for the current fiscal year. The GUAC is concerned that the value of this Fund has not been fully appreciated or adequately protected.

The GUAC has also expressed frustration with the uniformity in regulatory conservation requirements across the AMAs. The AMAs vary in their size, supply and demand characteristics, and degree of community support. However, those differences have not necessarily been reflected in ADWR's conservation programs.

RECOMMENDATION

The Tucson AMA GUAC supports conservation programs that are tailored to the local conditions, and backed by a viable Conservation and Augmentation Fund. The GUAC requests that efforts be made to protect the Fund from any additional legislative sweeps and to discontinue ADWR's internal use of the Fund.

•  ADWR Funding

ISSUE

Inadequate funding for ADWR in recent years has diminished its effectiveness and exposes the state's water supply and economy to additional risk.

BACKGROUND

Arizona 's population continues to soar and water issues have become more important, but ADWR finds itself at historically low staffing levels. Although the agency is currently authorized at 207 FTE's, the General Fund levels support only 167.5 FTE's (see Transition Report November, 2002). Staff turnover has been a constant concern for ADWR, and has resulted in considerable loss of institutional knowledge. The Tucson GUAC is particularly concerned with the long-range planning capacity within the AMAs, and the fact that other ADWR priorities, such as the development of the Fourth Management Plan, have been delayed.

RECOMMENDATION

The Tucson AMA GUAC urges the Governor to support increased funding for ADWR.

•  Recovery Planning

ISSUE

Recharge is the principal way that renewable supplies are put to use in the Tucson AMA, but there is considerable uncertainty about the timing, location and method of recovery for much of the stored water.

BACKGROUND

Recovered (pumped) water retains the legal character of the water that was stored, even if that recovery takes place in a different part of the AMA. This has allowed renewable supplies to be put to use earlier and more extensively than would have otherwise been possible, but there are problems as well.

The majority of that water has been stored by the Arizona Water Banking Authority for long-term protection against shortage on the Colorado River . The GUAC has urged the primary parties—the AWBA and CAWCD—to initiate recovery planning, but no sustained effort has yet occurred. The Tucson AMA's Institutional and Policy Advisory Group (IPAG) has undertaken initial issue identification, but a more comprehensive scope is warranted.

There are also broader concerns about the spatial disconnect between storage and recovery. The Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District (CAGRD), for instance, has helped the AMA as a whole move towards safe yield, but pumping by its members could exacerbate localized overdraft unless CAP and effluent infrastructure is extended to these areas in the coming decades. A number of these “sub-area” issues were identified in the Third Management Plan and further examined by the Tucson AMA Safe Yield Task Force.

RECOMMENDATION

The Tucson AMA GUAC urges the AWBA, CAWCD, ADWR and all other affected parties to make recovery planning a priority. The long-term implications of recharge and recovery should also be evaluated.


•  AWBA Storage

ISSUE

Analysis indicates that the Arizona Water Banking Authority (AWBA) will not achieve its storage goals within the Tucson AMA. This could diminish the reliability of municipal CAP supplies and increase groundwater overdraft.

BACKGROUND

Analysis done by the Tucson AMA's Institutional and Policy Advisory Group (IPAG) concluded that the AWBA will not store enough water in the Tucson AMA to fully protect municipal CAP supplies in times of shortage and outage on the CAP system. This “firming gap” is the result of insufficient funds available to the AWBA in relation to the magnitude of CAP subcontracts that Tucson area water providers hold. If this gap is not closed, additional groundwater pumping will occur in times of shortage.

The GUAC has taken steps to partially address this issue—by recommending that Withdrawal Fees be used for firming—but this action comes at the expense of other important water management objectives, and may not fully bridge the firming gap. The ability of the AWBA to achieve its objectives has also been compromised by large-scale legislative funding sweeps.

RECOMMENDATION

The Tucson AMA GUAC recommends that the AWBA's funding be protected and that the concerns of the Tucson region be relayed to the Director of ADWR who serves as chair of the AWBA.

Return to Home Page