A small tributary flows into Glen Canyon in a spot that was once buried beneath thick sediments, and Powell Reservoir in Glen Canyon. Spring 2022. Colorado River basin and reservoir system. Photo by Alicyn Gitlin
Arizona Legislature Weakening Water Laws, Ignoring Need for Limits
Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon (Arizona) Chapter has been working hard at the Arizona Legislature and beyond to stop harmful water bills and to seek consideration of bills that would help put Arizona on a sustainable path when it comes to water. Unfortunately, the Arizona Legislature was unwilling to even hear bills to protect rivers, desert washes, orour groundwater throughout Arizona.
Rather than ensuring actual enforcement of the Groundwater Management Act–passed in 1980–to protect our groundwater in Arizona, the bills that are advancing provide an end-around to the Arizona Department of Water Resources’ (ADWR) modeling and the assured water supply program, changing the definition of physical availability. The bills include no limits on unsustainable sprawl development or agriculture, and instead provide specific loopholes for wine grapes and hydroponics, and a bill to accommodate specific land speculators. Rather than tightening up the Groundwater Management Act, they poke more holes in it, and continue to seek to build our water future in the Phoenix area on the house of cards that is the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District (CAGRD), which no longer has excess Colorado River water for replenishment. The bills do nothing to address overpumping of groundwater in rural Arizona and in fact may actually codify overpumping.
Arizona is a dry place anyway, but we are in the midst of extreme drought and are in the bull’s eye of climate change. We cannot afford to have legislators ignore the changing climate and the stresses on our groundwater and rivers and streams session after session. Our waters need you to speak up and get involved!
To see a full list of the bad water bills, as well as other bills we are tracking, please go here.
To get weekly legislative updates on these and other bills, please sign up here.
Sandy Bahr, director, Sierra Club, Grand Canyon (AZ) Chapter