(Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents property owners in advocacy of this bill.)
By Kevin Reagan | 12 News
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs announced Monday she has signed legislation intended to help convert farmland into new housing developments.
Senate Bill 1611, also known as the “Ag-to-Urban” bill, creates a voluntary program for owners of irrigated land within the Phoenix or Pinal active management areas to permanently relinquish their water rights in exchange for groundwater savings credits that they can sell.
The program could potentially help Arizona save “millions of acre-feet of water over its lifetime,” according to the governor’s office.
“Arizona has long led the country in water management, and today we have shown that we will continue this legacy of addressing our most pressing challenges,” Hobbs said in a statement.
Lawmakers have said there are an estimated 400,000 acres in the Phoenix, Pinal and Tucson AMAs that could participate in the ag-to-urban program.
The bill passed out of the Arizona Senate in a final vote of 26-4 with four Democrats voting against it.
State Sen. T.J. Shope, R-District 16, said SB 1611 is the “most consequential piece of groundwater conservation legislation since the 1980 Groundwater Management Act.”
