By Brian Wright
Casa Grande Dispatch
Pinal County has three state Active Management Areas concerning water resources, but it was the water regulations in subdivisions outside these three areas that was discussed at Wednesday’s meeting of the Board of Supervisors.
AMAs are described as “areas with heavy reliance on mined groundwater.” Arizona has five AMAs, and three are either partially or totally located within Pinal County — the Phoenix AMA, Tucson AMA and Pinal AMA.
On Wednesday, county planner Dedrick Denton gave a presentation to the supervisors that covered proposed amendments to the Pinal County Development Services Code regarding regulations on adequacy of water supply in subdivisions that fall outside AMAs.
The three municipalities most affected would be Kearny, Winkelman and Mammoth, all of which are located in eastern Pinal.
County staff met with representatives from each town, and all three town councils do not support the proposed water adequacy ordinance.
Currently, areas outside an AMA can approve subdivisions without certifying an assured water supply. “Dry lot” subdivisions have an onsite individual well and septic system on each lot.
According to state law, counties have the authority to adopt an adequate water supply ordinance in areas outside AMAs. However, this requires a unanimous vote from the county supervisors (the board currently has three supervisors but will transition to five in January).
If the ordinance passes, it will require each municipality to adopt its own adequate water supply to all new subdivisions. “(The municipalities) have guidelines under state statute they would have to follow, as well,” Denton said.
County staff held a meeting in Mammoth last July to discuss the ordinance, and some residents expressed concern about the impact to existing wells. Some were also worried it could deter growth due to the cost of water analysis.
The public works director in Mammoth is also opposed to the ordinance and told county staff the town has plenty of water.
Last month, the Pinal County Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the ordinance, without discretionary exemptions.
District 1 Supervisor Pete Rios said the towns in eastern Pinal are having a tough time getting any development.
“There are no homebuilders, no investors knocking down doors in the mountain area around Winkelman, Mammoth or Kearny to go and build homes; I wish there were,” he said. “The people in these communities think (the ordinance) is premature for them and they have asked for a ‘no’ vote.” Rios, who represents those communities, said he concurs with those people “wholeheartedly.” The item will be back on the agenda for a vote at the board’s Nov. 21 meeting.
