By Melissa St. Aude | Casa Grande Dispatch
The Pinal area Groundwater Users Advisory Council on Thursday agreed the groundwater withdrawal fee should stay at its current rate of $3 for 2014.
Water users pay the per-acre-foot fee when groundwater is withdrawn in the Pinal Active Management Area.
The fee is divided, with $2.50 being allotted to the state and the remaining 50 cents designated for use in the Pinal AMA to fund various conservation programs.
Each year the group reviews the fees and makes a recommendation about potential changes.
Jeff Tannler, Arizona Department of Water Resources director of active management areas, told the advisory council Thursday that while the group cannot recommend a change to the $2.50 state fee, it can recommend an increase or decrease of the 50-cent portion.
The council unanimously agreed to forward a recommendation to ADWR to neither raise nor lower the rate.
