By Suzanne Adams-Ockrassa | Maricopa Monitor
CASA GRANDE — The long-awaited draft of the fourth management plan for the Pinal Active Management Area has been released by the Arizona Department of Water Resources.
The draft is currently listed on ADWR’s website, along with a list of changes from the third management plan. The third management plans for all of the state’s Active Management Areas, including Pinal’s, were adopted in 1999.
The management plans are part of Arizona’s 1980 Groundwater Management Act, which controls the use of groundwater in five areas in the state, Phoenix, Pinal, Prescott, Santa Cruz and Tucson. The act calls for a series of five management plans to be created between 1980 and 2025. Each new plan is supposed to contain more rigorous rules for the use and conservation of groundwater in each area.
