By Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke
The November 12, 2015 article regarding Arizona water law published by ADI News correctly summed up the economic and legal realities that I discussed in a recent Arizona Republic article; however, it completely missed the point that the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) is keenly aware of the groundwater issues in the rural portions of the state and is actively working to address them. Over the past months, I have given numerous presentations and have had many discussions surrounding the challenges facing the rural areas.
In 1980 when the groundwater code was written, most people in rural areas did not want the new regulations in their portions of the state. They did not see the need – their populations were small and water demands low. Now, increased populations, increases in industrial uses, and increases or continuance of agricultural uses are impacting groundwater supplies. This has some people in rural areas now asking whether local water management practices should change.
To that end, in October, Governor Ducey announced his water initiative for the State and tasked ADWR to work closely with local communities to define their water resource issues and identify strategies that will be successful in assisting with meeting their future water demands. Through this process, ADWR will initially focus our efforts on rural Arizona. In other words, yes, I am aware of the water resource challenges surrounding rural Arizona. In fact, my staff has been and will continue to work on solutions to assist local communities.
Arizona water law is extremely complex and water management in Arizona is not a county-by-county issue. Water must to be managed on a regional and basin-by-basin basis. Arizona’s Strategic Vision for Water Supply Sustainability, published in January 2014, found that while many areas in the state have proven a 100-year water supply is available which is based on foreseeable growth, there are areas that need to address long-term water supply demands. Part of the discussions that we need to have is how to balance these key parts of our economy while protecting our long-term water supplies, particularly for rural Arizona. We look forward to working with local leaders throughout the state in the months ahead.