Senate Bills 1268 and 1400 would have been a big step back from Arizona’s history of sound water policy. By adding new loopholes to Arizona’s 1980 Groundwater Management Act, they threatened not only our groundwater supplies, but also our rivers, wildlife, communities and economies. The San Pedro River Basin was most at risk.
These bills attacked the 2007 Mandatory Adequacy Legislation that let forward-thinking counties like Yuma and Cochise and water-minded towns like Clarkdale take steps to protect their water resources. Under this legislation, cities and counties can adopt an ordinance that requires new developments to demonstrate a 100-year water supply before the projects can begin. Senate Bill 1268 would have allowed municipalities to opt-out of their county’s requirement. Senate Bill 1400 would have allowed the requirement to potentially expire every five years. Both could have had broad, statewide implications.
Since February, when the bills were introduced in the Senate, until they eventually landed on the Governor’s desk, you’ve been helping our opposition to this dangerous legislation be heard. All told, you sent over 2,500 letters to the State Capitol. With our voice being echoed by media sources like Arizona Republic and by partners like the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association, Trout Unlimited, the Arizona Wildlife Federation and more - we were hard to ignore. Thanks to this overwhelming effort, Governor Doug Ducey vetoed both of these bills. Our sincerest thanks goes out to the Governor for his commitment to a sustainable water future for our state.
With these bills out of the way and the State Legislature adjourned, we will now return our focus to strengthening you, our members, and growing your capacity to take action for flowing water across the Colorado River Basin. Don’t miss out on the below opportunities:
- WRAN Leaders Call: Join us for this month’s WRAN Leaders call! During this call, Gerry L. Walker, the ADWR’s Assistant Deputy Director of the Colorado River and Other Interstate and International Waters, will be summarizing for us details and discussions from last week’s ADWR/CAP Colorado River Shortage Briefing. We are extremely grateful to Gerry for her willingness to talk to us, and we want to make sure the Network is well-represented on the call.
- Where: Call in at 1-888-585-9008 and enter the room number 870-797-018
- When: Wednesday, May 25 from Noon to 1pm
- RSVP: To Sarah Luna at llsarah@msn.com
- Upcoming AZ WRAN Webinars: Our WRAN Webinars are back! This time around, topics will range from the Lake Mead structural deficit to engaging a diverse audience in water and habitat conservation. Stay tuned for more information!
This legislative season, you showed that taking action through WRAN can affect Arizona’s water story in a powerful way. You helped take us one step closer to a sustainable water future and flowing water for habitat across the Colorado River Basin. Thank you for your hard work – we’re all in this together!
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