By Jakob Thorington | Yellow Sheet
A state agency that was once promised $1 billion to find new water sources for Arizona is facing yet another round of cuts coming directly from the new state budget.
The deduction follows years of slow starvation for the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona (WIFA), an organization tasked almost exclusively with solving the state’s water crisis.
At its core, the agency has become somewhat of a piggy bank for lawmakers looking to bail themselves out of difficult budget situations. Since its 2022 $1 billion appropriation under then-Gov. Doug Ducey, lawmakers have swept more than $600 million from the agency.
And this year’s state budget is no different, with lawmakers approving yet another $20 million sweep from WIFA’s water supply development revolving fund to add to the state’s general fund. WIFA officials have described the agency as a “soft rainy day fund” for lawmakers after seeing cuts to its long-term water augmentation fund.
