By Noah Cullen | Pinal Central
CASA GRANDE — Late last month, Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed five water-related bills — including one that would allow agricultural land to be retired for urban development, reducing water use — and urged state and local legislators to keep working, though some say the important bills were fine as is.
Pinal County, the third most populous in Arizona, is a mostly rural county of about 450,000 residents. The agriculture and ranching industry in Pinal — whether it’s flat fields of cotton or alfalfa or languid arrays of sheep and cattle, knows the feeling of thirst. Farmers, ranchers, the crops and cattle themselves have long grown accustomed to the state’s dry climate. Growers pay close attention to use of the most vital resource. The Arizona Department of Water Resources is ultimately tasked with the state’s use, and conservation, of water.
Steve Miller, Pinal County supervisor for District 3, also serves as vice chairman of the council overseeing the Pinal Active Management Area. Miller was disappointed about the vetoed bills, particularly one dealing with the ag-to-urban concept — Senate Bill 1172 — and was underwhelmed by the reasoning given by the Governor’s Water Policy Council.
