Senate bill promises to save Arizona’s water future. It does the opposite

Opinion: Arizona’s Senate Bill 1221 is the wrong way to fix rural groundwater problems. Lawmakers should dispense with it and work with us instead.

Like our constituents of every political persuasion, we four supervisors from four medium-sized Arizona counties are concerned about the future of water in our communities — which is nonpartisan.

For a long time, we have been advocating for a more adaptable, locally driven set of tools to manage and conserve our groundwater.  

We were therefore concerned to see Senate Bill 1221 be given a hearing in the Senate Natural Resources & Water committee last week.

Rather than empowering rural communities to manage our groundwater and preserve our water future, SB 1221 would do the opposite:

It creates layers and layers of new government bureaucracy, shuts rural constituents out of the process and deprives us of the tools we need to manage and conserve our groundwater in a way that makes sense.

AMA is not ideal, but it’s better than nothing

It’s the wrong bill for Arizona and does not address or adequately minimize the precise reason we are in these situations in rural Arizona — industrial overpumping combined with inadequate conservation.

Nonetheless, as the recent uproar over the potential creation of a Gila Bend Active Management Area (AMA) shows, it is past time for the state Legislature to take action.

No one believes that a Phoenix or Tucson-style AMA is the best solution to our rural water concerns, and yet, without leadership and policymaking from our state lawmakers, AMAs are the only tool available to manage the crisis in the Gila Bend basin and the crises facing other basins throughout rural Arizona.  

Even though imperfect, AMAs provide far more balanced protection of “at risk” water supplies for all residents. And, although not preferred, they are better than doing nothing.

For that reason, we invite those who were surprised or distressed to hear about a possible Gila Bend AMA to join in our advocating for rural solutions and new, balanced ways to create locally directed water management tools for rural Arizona:

You are in this position because pleas from rural communities like ours have been ignored for so long by the Legislature. Years of government inaction have brought us to this moment.

Stop pursuing SB 1221 and engage with us

Proposals brought by us and other rural local leaders that would have given us the tools and local control to address our unique needs have been blocked or ignored altogether, year after year.

Rural Arizona deserves better from its elected leaders at the Capitol.

We need real solutions that provide certainty in long-term rural groundwater planning, and empower effective management of our rural groundwater basins determined to be at-risk by the best objective data and hydrological studies from U.S. Geological Survey and the Arizona Department of Water Services.

We need new ways to protect our water supplies from drought, speculation, irresponsible development and out-of-state industrial megausers out to drain our aquifers before packing up and moving elsewhere.

Waer regulation: Has become a game of chicken

We urge our legislators at the Capitol to dispense with SB 1221 as quickly as possible. And to engage in good-faith dialogue with rural leaders and stakeholders to give us tools to effectively manage our water supply.  

We who have been waging this advocacy and education battle for years recognize that this is a moment that requires bravery from our legislators. It will involve overcoming the usual political partisanship and perhaps even upsetting some big donors.

But it is also an opportunity for Arizona to lead as a state that cares about citizen consumer protection, water conservation and economic freedom.

We love our farms, our towns and our rural way of life, and we want to secure the future of water in Arizona. Water security is too important an issue to be handled with something as ineffective and bureaucratic as SB 1221.

Donna Michaels, Travis Lingenfelter, Holly Irwin and Patrice Horstman are county supervisors in Yavapai, Mohave, La Paz and Coconino counties, respectively. Reach them at web.bos.district3@yavapaiaz.gov,

Donna Michaels, Travis Lingenfelter, Holly Irwin and Patrice Horstman are county supervisors in Yavapai, Mohave, La Paz and Coconino counties, respectively. Reach them at web.bos.district3@yavapaiaz.gov, linget@mohave.gov, hirwin@lapazcountyaz.org and phorstman@coconino.az.gov.