Opinion: Rural communities need the power to manage our own groundwater, county supervisors say, not let those with the deepest wells pump everyone else dry.
By Travis Lingenfelter, Patrice Horstman and Donna Michaels opinion contributors
Free-for-all groundwater pumping is robbing rural Arizona of its economic stability and basic right to self-determination.
Three long years. That’s how long residents in our three counties – Mohave, Coconino and Yavapai – have been urging the state Legislature to pass bills finally giving rural Arizonans the authority to control our water futures.
And yet, folks in Phoenix have sat on their hands, letting whoever can drill the deepest well win while watching homeowners’ wells go dry and our rivers decline.
We are fed up waiting for the Legislature to act against unfettered groundwater pumping in rural Arizona.
All three of our county boards of supervisors unanimously passed resolutions in recent weeks calling for the governor and state lawmakers to take action on advancing rural management of groundwater.
80% of Arizona has no water certainty
Residents in Cochise County have gone even farther, gathering signatures to put new groundwater management districts on the ballot before local voters in November.
Rep. Regina Cobb’s legislation, House Bill 2661, would enable our rural communities to manage groundwater through a new, opt-in program called Rural Management Areas.
Nearly 3 out of 4 voters solidly support the Rural Management Area proposal, across rural and urban geographies and political party affiliations, according to a January poll.
Urban areas like Phoenix and Tucson are able to manage this precious underground resource as a result of the 1980 Groundwater Management Act, which created critical guardrails to protect groundwater in those areas. Those urban communities have greatly benefited from the increased certainty that comes with a predictable water supply.
But that legislation left out 80% of the state’s geography and about 1.5 million people who now desperately need that same level of certainty.
