Arizona Groundwater Law Reform - An Urban Perspective

Abstract

The recently- created Arizona Groundwater Management Study Commission is mandated to propose a reform of Arizona's groundwater laws. A number of issues must be addressed by this Commission in order to deal with urban problems with present groundwater law. These include: a comprehensive set of regulations on groundwater use to enhance the public interest and benefit in scarce groundwater resources; a permanent mechanism to permit transfer of water rights away from specific parcels of land; an effective system of management which considers differing types of water problems in various parts of the state; a method of quantifying existing rights and measuring use of groundwater; an extraction tax to recognize public costs associated with groundwater mining and the need for replenishment; a reevaluation of existing preferences and subsidies which encourage the mining of groundwater. Failure by Arizona to reform its groundwater laws threatens future funding for the Central Arizona Project and increases the possibility of federal intervention in state water management.