`The Arizona Department of Water Resources earlier this year released the Hassayampa Groundwater Model, a numerical basin-scale groundwater prototype that projects water usage by existing and planned development in an area northwest of Phoenix and west of the White Tank mountains that is pictured here. Advocacy groups are now attempting to revive groundwater legislation that has languished in the Legislature this session. || Photo courtesy of Arizona Department of Water Resources website`
Nick Phillips
Arizona Capitol Times
Advocacy groups are making efforts to revive rural groundwater legislation that’s languished in the Legislature this session – the same fate it has suffered for several years running.
The current proposal would establish a new regulatory framework that’s less rigid – and could allow for more local control – than existing tools, including the Active Management Area system. But it and previous proposals have failed to get a hearing in the House or Senate.
Last week, a group of southern Arizona residents sent a letter to lawmakers and officials urging them to move the proposals forward. And this week, a coalition of environmental groups put out a poll indicating there’s widespread support for more groundwater regulation.
A poll commissioned by the Water for Arizona Coalition and published on May 2 found that more than three-quarters or Arizonans support the idea of Local Groundwater Stewardship Areas (LGSA) – the new framework proposed by parallel bills introduced in the House and Senate.
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