Arizona’s Groundwater Management Code
Historically, Arizonans have pumped groundwater faster than it was replaced naturally—a condition known as "overdraft". Groundwater overdraft creates significant problems, including increased costs for drilling and pumping and the eventual loss of supply. Water quality also suffers because groundwater pumped from greater depths typically contains more salts and minerals. In areas of severe groundwater depletion, the earth's surface may sink, or "subside", causing cracks or fissures that can damage roads, building foundations, and other underground structures.
Recognizing continued depletion of finite groundwater supplies as a threat to prosperity and quality of life, in 1980 the Arizona legislature created a framework to manage the state's water supply for the future.
The 1980 Groundwater Management Act, or Code, has three primary goals:
1. Control severe overdraft occurring in many parts of the state.
2. Provide a means to allocate the state's limited groundwater resources to most effectively meet the changing needs of the state;
3. Augment Arizona's groundwater through water supply development.
To accomplish these goals, the Code set up a comprehensive management framework and established the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) to administer the Code's provisions.
The Code established three levels of water management to respond to different groundwater conditions:
1. The lowest level of management includes general provisions that apply statewide.
2. The mid level of management applies to Irrigation Non-Expansion Areas (INAs).
3. The highest level of management with the most extensive provisions is applied to Active Management Areas (AMAs) where groundwater overdraft is most severe.
The boundaries of AMAs and INAs are defined by groundwater basins and sub-basins rather than by the political lines of cities, towns, or counties. The Code created four AMAs— Phoenix, Pinal, Prescott, and Tucson. A fifth AMA in Santa Cruz County was formed in 1994, as it has a distinct sub-basin system. Provisions for the state's five AMAs are the most comprehensive because of the magnitude of overdraft in these areas. The five AMAs include 80% of Arizona's population and 70% of the state's groundwater overdraft.
The Code contains six key provisions:
1. Establishment of a program of groundwater rights and permits.
2. Rules to prohibit irrigation of new agricultural lands within AMAs.
3. Preparation of a series of five water management plans for each AMA designed to create a comprehensive system of conservation targets and other water management criteria.
4. Development of a program requiring developers to demonstrate a 100-year assured water supply for new growth.
5. A requirement to meter/measure water pumped from all large wells.
6. A program for annual water withdrawal and use reporting. These reports may be audited to ensure water-user compliance with the provisions of the Groundwater Code and management plans. Penalties may be assessed for non-compliance.
Authority: Arizona State Legislature
Website: www.AzWater.gov/AzDWR/WaterManagement