Legislation Archive

Session Summaries

Bill Archive

2024 - Fifty-sixth Legislature - Second Regular Session
Exemption area; assured water supply

SB 1081: Exemption area; assured water supply

In Brief: Allows ADWR to grant a DAWS to a part of city or town that is located in the Phoenix AMA and Buckeye Waterlogged Area if several criteria are met.

Sponsor(s): Kerr

Last Action: This bill passed through House NREW with a 6-4 vote on March 5th.

Description: SB 1081 intends to incentivize development on agricultural land within the Buckeye Water Conservation and Drainage District. Specifically, the bill would allow ADWR to designate part of city or town that is located in the Phoenix AMA and Buckeye Waterlogged Area as having an Assured Water Supply if several criteria are met. The portion designated must be entirely within an irrigation and water conservation district, the city or town must have contracted with the district for water service for at least 100 years, and the city or town will not use “new groundwater” as the basis for an AWS within the portion of its service area designated. This bill received an amendment on February 19th that alleviated most concerns and focused the partial designation more on the use of surface water and effluent from the water district.

Link: https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/BillOverview/80510

2024 - Fifty-sixth Legislature - Second Regular Session
State lands; leases; groundwater use

SB 1106: State lands; leases; groundwater use

In Brief: Requires ADWR to levy an annual groundwater withdrawal fee on agricultural lessees of State Land located outside of an AMA or INA.

Sponsor(s): Sundareshan

Last Action:

Description: This bill would require ADWR to establish rules to govern an annual groundwater withdrawal fee that it will levy upon each lessee of State Land for agricultural purposes that is located outside of an AMA or INA. These lessees would be required to submit a report to ADWR each year that details the locations of any wells, the amount of groundwater withdrawn from these wells, and why the groundwater was used.

Link: https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/BillOverview/80550

2024 - Fifty-sixth Legislature - Second Regular Session
Long-term storage accounts; credits; percentage

SB 1107: Long-term storage accounts; credits; percentage

In Brief: Change the amount of recoverable stored water that ADWR will credit to long-term storage accounts from 95% to 70%.

Sponsor(s): Sundareshan

Last Action:

Description: This bill would change the amount of recoverable stored water that ADWR will credit to long-term storage accounts from 95% to 70%. In other words, this bill increases the so-called “cut to the aquifer” for most long-term storage from 5% to 30%.

Link: https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/BillOverview/80551

2024 - Fifty-sixth Legislature - Second Regular Session
Water augmentation fund; appropriation; rights

SB 1109: Water augmentation fund; appropriation; rights

In Brief: Transfers $30 million from WIFA’s to ADWR to be used to purchase and retire irrigation grandfathered rights.

Sponsor(s): Sundareshan

Last Action:

Description: This bill would transfer $30 million from WIFA’s Long-Term Water Augmentation Fund for FY 2024 to ADWR to be used to purchase and retire irrigation grandfathered rights. This bill also requires ADWR to begin purchasing and retiring these rights by the end of 2024.

Link: https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/BillOverview/80553

2024 - Fifty-sixth Legislature - Second Regular Session
Regulatory costs; rulemaking; legislative ratification

SB 1153: Regulatory costs; rulemaking; legislative ratification

In Brief: Requires legislative ratification for any proposed rule that will cost the state more than $500,000 within five years.

Sponsor(s): Kern

Last Action: This bill passed out of the House Regulatory Affairs Committee with a 4-3 vote on March 13th.

Description: This bill would require any proposed rule that is “estimated to increase regulatory costs” in Arizona by more than $100,000 within five years to be submitted to the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) for review. Any proposed rule that the OEO confirms will cost the state more than $500,000 within five years may not become effective until the Legislature enacts legislation ratifying the proposed rule. After confirmation of cost, the OEO would submit the proposed rule to the Administrative Rules Oversight Committee, and the Committee would submit the rule to the Legislature “as soon as practicable”. The agency is prohibited from submitting a finalized rule until the Legislature ratifies the rule, and the agency must terminate the proposed rule if the Legislature fails to ratify it within the same legislative session that it was submitted to the Committee. Additionally, any person regulated by an agency proposing a rule and any State Legislator may submit a rule to the OEO for review.

Link: https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/BillOverview/80609

2024 - Fifty-sixth Legislature - Second Regular Session
Physical availability credits; water supply

SB 1172: Physical availability credits; water supply

In Brief: Allows the holder of an IGR to earn a physical availability credit by permanently retiring their land if certain criteria were met.

Sponsor(s): Shope

Last Action: SB 1172 passed out of Senate with a 16-12- 2-0-0 vote on February 29th and passed House NREW with a 6-4 vote and an amendment on March 19th.

Description: This bill incentivizes the retirement of agricultural land so it can be developed for residential use and thereby dramatically reduce the use of water. Specifically, this legislation would allow the holder of an irrigation grandfathered right (IGR) to earn a physical availability credit by permanently retiring their land from irrigation to future non-irrigation use if certain criteria were met. The land to be retired must have been farmed in three of the last seven years, the new non-irrigation use must remain appurtenant to the retired lands, and the groundwater is delivered by a municipal provider, which will withdraw the groundwater from within its service area. SB 1172 received an amendment that would make several positive changes. First, the maximum volume of physical availability credits that would be granted to an applicant has been decreased from 3 acre-feet per acre to 2.1 acre-feet per acre. Second, the bill now requires compliance with the AMA Management Goal, which means a requirement for pumped groundwater to be replenished. Third, any groundwater withdrawn pursuant to these credits may now only be used on the appurtenant land or adjacent lands within a one-mile radius of the land.

Link: https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/BillOverview/80631

2024 - Fifty-sixth Legislature - Second Regular Session
Groundwater replenishment; member lands; areas

SB 1181: Groundwater replenishment; member lands; areas

In Brief: Allows a provider seeking a designation to decide whether to assume the replenishment obligation for CAGRD Member Lands within its service area.

Sponsor(s): Petersen

Last Action: This bill passed out of the Senate with a 21-7-2-0-0 vote on March 4th.

Description: SB 1181 would allow a municipal provider that is seeking a designation to decide whether to assume the replenishment obligation for any Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District (CAGRD) Member Lands within its service area or whether to have the replenishment obligation remain with those Member Lands. This bill received an amendment on February 7th that was developed by Queen Creek and the CAGRD. Under this amendment, a newly designated provider will need to begin assuming the replenishment obligations for Member Lands within its service area and the end of its first term of designation (which may be up to 15 years) or 10 years after becoming designated, whichever is greater. After that point, the provider will be required to reduce the replenishment obligation in thirds over the next 15 years in a way similar to the introduced bill. Finally, the amendment limits the bill’s provisions to municipal providers that apply for designation in the Phoenix AMA.

Link: https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/BillOverview/80648

2024 - Fifty-sixth Legislature - Second Regular Session
Public monies; prohibited uses

SB 1195: Public monies; prohibited uses

In Brief: Prohibits any public entity from promoting or becoming a part of an association that promotes any of several things.

Sponsor(s): Kern

Last Action: SB 1195 passed Senate GOV with a 5-4 vote of March 13th.

Description: This bill would prohibit any public entity from promoting or becoming a part of an association that promotes (among other things) “reusing water that has touched human feces as a source of municipal drinking water”. The concurrent resolution versions of this legislation would seek to enact this prohibition through a voter referendum. This bill received an amendment that removed the provision that would have effectively banned advanced water purification. However, this bill remains alarming for its potential to impact municipal climate action plans and therefore potentially drought plans.

Link: https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/BillOverview/80676

2024 - Fifty-sixth Legislature - Second Regular Session
Basin management areas; appropriation

SB 1221: Basin management areas; appropriation

In Brief: Establishes a type of rural groundwater management framework called a Basin Management Area.

Sponsor(s): Kerr

Last Action: This bill passed House NREW with a 6-4 vote and an amendment on March 19th.

Description: This bill would establish a type of rural groundwater management framework called a Basin Management Area. These areas may only be initiated through a petition by voters who live within the groundwater subbasin or basin covered by the area. These areas may be turned into Active Basin Management Areas if there is a unanimous vote by all County Boards of Supervisors that govern land contained within the Management Area. Active Management Areas are managed by a five-person council that works in conjunction with ADWR and the State Legislature to develop a management plan for the Area and provide financial assistance for water conservation. This bill received amendments on February 7th and 9th that established criteria under which ADWR may submit an area to a County Board of Supervisors for designation as a Basin Management Area. ADWR may submit an area if it is an INA that is not a groundwater transport basin or if it is any basin that has experienced mean groundwater level declines more than 50 feet between 2000 and 2020. This bill also received an amendment on March 19th that made several relatively minor changes that would arguably make these Basin Management Areas even harder to create. One notable addition in this amendment is a requirement that the initial applicant for a petition to create one of these management areas must have been an Arizona resident for at least five years and must primarily reside within the appurtenant basin or subbasin.

Link: https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/BillOverview/80711

2024 - Fifty-sixth Legislature - Second Regular Session
Tax credit; gray water systems

SB 1241: Tax credit; gray water systems

In Brief: Establishes a tax credit for individuals and corporations that install a graywater system.

Sponsor(s): Shope

Last Action:

Description: This bill would establish a tax credit of up to $5,000 for both individuals and corporations that install a graywater system that complies with ADEQ regulations established in ARS § 49-204(C). This tax credit would be available for tax years 2025 through 2035.

Link: https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/BillOverview/80739