Water:
water; overlapping service area providers

This bill would have undercut water conservation efforts in many cities and towns throughout Arizona, but was particularly aimed at Gilbert.  Had it become law, it would have meant that anyone who is part of the irrigation district would not be subject to any of the city or town’s ordinances or regulations relative to water.  It prohibits water providers (primarily municipalities) in an area that overlaps with an irrigation district from limiting a landowner’s right to use water that is supplied by an irrigation district.  This firmly puts irrigation districts in the development business, but allows them to keep their “special” agricultural exemptions.  While the bill says the irrigation districts have to abide by conservation requirements from the Arizona Department of Water Resources, that is pretty easy to do as these irrigation districts are exempt from nearly all conservation requirements. 

Status

This bill passed out of the Senate by a slim margin 16-14-2 after being defeated in COW originally.  Several members in the House also switched their votes, after committing to vote no, so the bill squeaked through 32-23-5.  Representative Ableser switched his vote to a yes for purposes of reconsideration, so he was really a no vote.

Action Needed

More information

Contact

Background

While the proponents of this legislation said it was intended to address a narrow issue, the legislation itself was very broad and would create water conservation problems statewide.  The bill was dropped because of a dispute between the Town of Gilbert and the Roosevelt Water Conservation District.  Gilbert passed an ordinance ten years ago to promote the use of reclaimed water, instead of groundwater, on large areas of turf.  The Roosevelt Water Conservation District began objecting to this ordinance about a year and a half ago and asked to have an exemption.  The Town Council in Gilbert did not agree to an exemption or special privileges for this district as they wanted to maintain strong water conservation goals.  

Irrigation Districts are already exempt from many water conservation measures and the assured water supply certifications, but they do use groundwater and they do have an impact.  The last thing the Legislature should grant them is another exemption.