Fiscal Note
BILL # HB 2186 TITLE: remedial groundwater incentive; brackish
groundwater
SPONSOR: Kolodin STATUS: As Amended by Senate NREW
PREPARED BY: Micaela Andrews
Description
The bill would allow an applicant's use or proposed use of brackish groundwater to be considered by the Department of
Water Resources (DWR) as part of meeting the certification or designation of assured water supply within an Active
Management Area (AMA).
Estimated Impact
We estimate that the bill would increase DWR's workload and costs, however, the magnitude of this impact cannot be
determined in advance.
The increase to DWR's workload would ultimately depend on the number of applicants in AMAs that specifically propose
to use brackish groundwater as part of meeting adequate water supply requirements. In addition, the bill would require
DWR to establish new rules, change operational processes and update information systems to separately track brackish
groundwater approvals, plans and annual reports as well as differentiate brackish groundwater withdrawals from regular
groundwater withdrawals. These new rule and data requirements would increase DWR administrative costs.
DWR has not yet provided its estimate of the bill's fiscal impact.
Analysis
The state has designated 6 groundwater basins as AMAs: Prescott, Phoenix, Pinal, Tucson, Santa Cruz, and Douglas. AMAs
are subject to certain statutory and administrative regulations for the use of water including the certification and
designation of an assured 100-year water supply for new subdivision developments. An entity seeking to develop a
subdivision in an AMA must either: 1) Receive a commitment of water service from a designated provider that has already
been certified by DWR (such as a city or private water company); or 2) Apply directly to DWR for an assured water supply
certificate.
As part of evaluating the water supplies of designated providers or individual applications, DWR evaluates the availability
of water, water quality, the financial capacity to construct the systems for the delivery, storage and treatment of water,
and consistency with the management plan and management goal for the associated AMA.
The bill would specify the process for an applicant to show that their use of brackish groundwater is consistent with the
DWR criteria listed above. Because the bill would create additional data for DWR to review as part of the assured water
supply process, along with outlining rules and data requirements, the bill would increase DWR's workload and costs. DWR
currently assesses fees for applications relating to adequate and assured water supply regulations for newly-created
subdivisions, which may potentially offset some of the bill's costs.
Local Government Impact
None.
3/28/24