By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services
Key Points:
- Judges say law requires periodic groundwater studies, but doesn’t define how often
- Lawsuit filed by biological diversity group claims area is going dry
- Group official accuses governor of failing to act
Arizona judges won’t force the state to determine if there needs to be greater state oversight of water use along the upper San Pedro River — a move that could ultimately lead to a limit on groundwater pumping.
In a new ruling April 29, the state Court of Appeals acknowledged that Arizona law requires the Department of Water Resources to “periodically review” whether to create what are known as “active management areas” in parts of the state which now have minimal to no limits on the pumping of groundwater. Such a designation would give the state the power to impose new restrictions.
And the court did not dispute arguments by two environmental groups that it has been more than 20 years since the state agency conducted such a review of the San Pedro Basin.
But appellate Judge Kent Cattani, writing for the unanimous three-judge panel, pointed out that the Legislature, in crafting the law, never spelled out how often such reviews must be conducted. Nor did they define the term “periodically” in the state Groundwater Code.
