In January, Gov. Hobbs created the Water Policy Council to help reduce the state’s use of groundwater, which accounts for 41% of Arizona’s drinking water.
Morgan Loew
3TV/CBS 5
The president of the Arizona Farm Bureau says the governor’s Water Policy Council was not listening to input from the agriculture community. So the Bureau withdrew from the Council, causing a widening rift between the organization that represents 30,000 Arizona farming families and the administration that is looking at ways to conserve water across the state.
Arizona is facing a looming water shortage, with a growing population and a drier future. Agriculture accounts for just over 70% of water use in the state. Cities use a little more than 20%.
In January, Gov. Katie Hobbs signed an executive order creating the Water Policy Council. Its goal is to take input from stakeholders and find ways to reduce the state’s use of groundwater, which accounts for 41% of Arizona’s drinking water.
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“There was really no opportunity for us to offer our ideas, and we’ve been working on this for quite a few years,” said Stefanie Smallhouse, the president of the Farm Bureau. “And so at some point you just have to determine, is this a good use of your time and are we going to be able to properly represent agricultural producers, farmers and ranchers in this setting. And we decided that we could not,” she said.
