Arizona Governor Announces New Groundwater Active Management Area to Protect Community

(PHOENIX, AZ – Jan. 12, 2016) During her State of the State address today, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs announced the designation of the Ranegras Plain Groundwater Basin in La Paz and Yuma counties as a new Active Management Area.

Statement of La Paz County Supervisor Holly Irwin (District 3)

"For years, the people of La Paz County have watched our wells drop and our future get pumped away while we asked the State Legislature to act, even driving hours across the state multiple times for years to support potential solutions. We asked for a rural management tool that would fit our unique needs. Year after year, those pleas fell on deaf ears. Today, we’ve finally been heard. Thank you Governor Katie Hobbs and Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke.

Establishing an Active Management Area for the Ranegras Plain Groundwater Basin is the decisive action we need to stop the bleeding that threatens the vitality of our community. While we would like to continue to build even better tools for rural Arizona, this is the most effective tool we have right now to protect our water from unchecked expansion and corporate exploitation. I am incredibly grateful to Governor Hobbs and her administration for standing with rural Arizonans and ensuring that La Paz County will have a more secure water future."

Statement of Kari Ann Noeltner, Resident of the Ranegras Plain Groundwater Basin

"Our community has been living under a cloud of uncertainty, watching large corporate interests move in and threaten the water that sustains our homes and families. We don’t have any ownership over our own water. What’s happened today finally gives us a voice. We need the state to manage these precious resources so we can finally focus on living instead of having to continually fight for our very survival. I want to thank Governor Hobbs and Director Buschatzke for acting to protect the sustainability of our area, making it possible that we can pass along our homes and businesses to our children. This AMA means we can finally stop the unmanaged expansion of groundwater pumping that has put our community's survival at risk and focus on preserving our way of life for the long term."
 

Statement of Christopher Kuzdas, Arizona Water Program Director, Environmental Defense Fund

“Supervisor Holly Irwin is an inspiration. After her 15 years of tireless advocacy for her constituents and all La Paz County residents, this new Active Management Area (AMA) designation is a historic milestone for water security in the region. This AMA offers a new path toward a hopeful, water-secure future for local communities. I am so thankful that after 40 years of inaction on rural water by eight other governors, Gov. Katie Hobbs is taking clear action in partnership with ADWR Director Tom Buschatzke under their available authority to respond positively to local leaders like Supervisor Irwin and communities in the Ranegras Plain basin and who have long been asking for protection of local groundwater supplies. 

The Governor also announced that she will be pushing for new fees on data centers to help fund Colorado River conservation and adaptation at a critical time, including $30 million in seed funding. This new fund — along with improved groundwater protections — are major steps forward for Arizona and the water supplies we all depend on. EDF and our partners look forward to working with Gov. Hobbs and the Legislature to pass this new Colorado River fund. On behalf of our 96,000 members in Arizona, we appreciate Gov. Hobb’s leadership on water, for all Arizonans.”