HB 2549
Initials PAB Page 1 Natural Resources, Energy & Water
ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Fifty-fifth Legislature
Second Regular Session
HB 2549: stored water; certificates; impact; accounting
Sponsor: Representative Griffin, LD 14
Committee on Natural Resources, Energy & Water
Overview
Requires the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) to assume an entity's service area
mirror its boundaries when determining if future groundwater will be physically available for an
assured water supply (AWS). Directs ADWR to make certain assumptions about the physical
availability of water and consistency with a management goal for AWS certificate (CAWS)
application to use water other than groundwater withdrawn from the development's active
management area (AMA). Redefines area of impact and area of impact of storage.
History
Groundwater Management Act and Assured Water Supply Requirements
Under the Groundwater Management Act, someone who plans to sell or lease subdivided lands
in an AMA must obtain a CAWS from the ADWR or obtain a commitment for water service from
a city, town or private water company that has an AWS designation (DAWS). Otherwise, a
municipality or county cannot approve that subdivision plat, and the State Real Estate
Commissioner will not authorize the sale or lease of the subdivided lands. An AWS means:
• Sufficient groundwater, surface water or effluent of adequate quality that will be legally,
physically and continuously available to meet proposed water needs for at least 100 years;
• Projected groundwater use is consistent with the management plan and achieving the
AMA's management goal; and
• Demonstrating the financial capability to build the facilities necessary to make water
available for the proposed use (A.R.S. § 45-576).
Services Areas
Service areas have unique definitions under the Groundwater Management Act, specifically:
• A municipality's service area consists of land being served water for non-irrigation use
along with any areas that have an operating municipal distribution system that delivers
water for non-irrigation use. It also includes the service area of any municipality or private
water company that has contracted for water deliveries prior to the AMA's designation;
and
• A private water company's service area is comprised of those lands to which the company
serves water for non-irrigation use along with areas containing the company's operating
distribution system which delivers water for a non-irrigation use (A.R.S. § 45-402).
Underground Water Storage and the Area of Impact
Under the regulatory framework for storing water underground, the area of impact is the land area
where stored water is located or has migrated (A.R.S. § 45-802.01). The area of impact factors
into whether ADWR will issue permits for certain facilities such as underground storage facilities
and water storage facilities, groundwater withdrawal permits and permits to construct a new well
or replacement well. It also factors into AWS and adequate water supply determinations (A.R.S.
HB 2549
Initials PAB Page 2 Natural Resources, Energy & Water
§§ 45-811.01, 45-814.01, and 45-856.01). By contrast, when modifying a DAWS in the Pinal AMA,
the area of impact of storage means:
1) Within one mile of an existing or proposed underground storage facility where the water
to be recovered is or will be stored;
2) Within the boundaries of an irrigation district with a permit for a groundwater savings facility
and where the water to be recovered is or will be stored; or
3) An area shown to have been positively impacted by stored water to be recovered as
demonstrated by an ADWR-approved hydrologic model (A.R.S. § 45-576.08).
Provisions
Accounting for Water Deliveries (Sec. 1)
1. Requires an entity that delivered a combination of groundwater and surface water or effluent
to end users to provide a report showing all surface water, groundwater and effluent provided
to each user authorized to withdraw groundwater (instead of each farm).
2. Declares that these changes do not impact the applicability, if any, of groundwater
conservation rules to water supplies that physically contain groundwater.
Assured Water Supply Determinations
3. Instructs ADWR, when determining if groundwater will be physically available to be withdrawn
through future wells for AWS determinations, to assume the service area mirrors the
boundaries of a municipality, a water provider that is an improvement district and a water
provider that is a private water company regulated by the Arizona Corporation Commission.
(Sec. 2)
4. Declares that the following provisions apply for a CAWS application proposing to use water
other than groundwater withdrawn from the AMA where the development is located:
a) The proposed source is considered consistent with the AMA's management goal;
b) If the proposed source is stored water recovered within the area of impact, the source will
be considered physically available and ADWR will be prohibited from reviewing the
physical availability of other water sources served by the municipal provider or included in
an issued CAWS or DAWS in the AMA;
c) If the proposed source will be used by a municipality in the same water system as CAP
water, surface water, effluent or groundwater, the proposed source will not affect the
continuous, legal and physical availability of the proposed source, regardless of the
continuous, legal and physical availability of other supplies in the same water system.
(Sec. 4)
Defining Area of Impact and Area of Impact of Storage
5. Redefines area of impact of storage and area of impact. (Sec. 3, 5, 6 and 7)
Miscellaneous
6. Makes technical and conforming changes. (Sec. 1-2)
☐ Prop 105 (45 votes) ☐ Prop 108 (40 votes) ☐ Emergency (40 votes) ☐ Fiscal Note