PHOENIX — State lawmakers return to the Capitol Monday with the desire to do something to try to make sure there’s enough water for everyone who wants it.But there is a deep schism in how to do that which remains to be bridged.Republicans who lead the Legislature, backed by developers and some agricultural interests, are determined to have as little state regulation as possible and allow those affected to work out the problems on their own.Senate President Warren Petersen says there’s no need for state action. In fact, he contends there is plenty of water if the state simply gets out of the way and lets homebuilders make their own deals with farmers for their water.But Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs says protecting the state’s groundwater supply is a complex issue.Hobbs says she’s willing to work toward a compromise.
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At the same time, however, the governor’s administration already is moving toward having the state impose solutions. And that is raising the ire of GOP leaders as the 2025 legislative session begins.Groundwater pumpingAll this comes amid realization that Arizona’s historic 1980 Groundwater Code only goes so far.It requires that those who want to develop within one of the state’s “active management areas,” including Phoenix and Tucson, prove there is a 100-year supply of water. That leaves much of Arizona in the proverbial Wild West, with few rules — and essentially governed by the philosophy that whoever has the longest straw can take all the groundwater they want.There is the option for area residents to create their own active management area to curtail pumping. That’s what happened in the Douglas basin in 2022 in the first-ever local use of that power. But when voters in the Willcox area refused to go along, the Arizona Department of Water Resources stepped in last year and created an AMA itself. Doing nothing, state water officials said, would have meant the water supply for residents would keep depleting while the ground itself was collapsi …
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