Casa Grande Dispatch
Two members of the state House, Frank Pratt of Casa Grande and T.J. Shope of Coolidge, have stepped up to work for a solution to the pending phase-out of water extinguishment credits associated with agricultural land.
The state has granted a one-year delay in the rule while a new committee works on a solution.
As we have said before, the issue is by no means an easy one to solve. The rule was adopted several years ago to prevent drying up of the aquifers in Pinal County, so that future residents will have water. The problem, which gained widespread attention recently through the efforts of Casa Grande City Councilman Dick Powell and others, is that the pending rule provides an incentive to sell farmland sooner rather than later, before the extinguishment credits dwindle or disappear.
Gathering experts and people who have a stake in the matter should produce a compromise that will alleviate the situation, which otherwise is likely to hit the agricultural economy hard.
