HB 2203
Initials CW Page 1 Senate Engrossed
ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Fifty-seventh Legislature
First Regular Session
House: NREW DP 5-4-1-0 | 3
rd
Read DP 32-27-1-0
Senate: NR DP 5-2-1-0 | 3
rd
Read DPA 16-14-0-0
HB 2203: historical water use; subsequent AMA
Sponsor: Representative Griffin, LD 19
Senate Engrossed
Overview
Extends the time period that is used when determining eligibility for continued groundwater
use or volume of groundwater use for in a subsequent active management area (AMA).
History
After the initiation of the procedures for designating a subsequent AMA or for the call of an
election to establish an AMA an irrigation user is only permitted to irrigate on land that was
irrigated at any time during the five years preceding the beginning of the designation process.
This limitation exists until either the Director of the Department of Water Resources
(ADWR) makes a final determination or the results of the election to establish the AMA are
certified (A.R.S. § 45-416).
Type 1 non-irrigation grandfathered rights are associated with retired irrigated land and in
a subsequent AMA have the right to withdraw the lesser of three acre-feet per acre per year
or the average annual amount of groundwater used per acre during the five years prior to
when the land was retired (A.R.S. § 45-463).
A person who owns land from which groundwater was being withdrawn and used for non-
irrigation purposes as of the date of AMA designation can have a Type 2 non-irrigation
grandfathered right which can look at the five years preceding the designation to determine
the right to withdraw (A.R.S. § 45-464).
Provisions
1. Increases the number of years prior to a designation of a subsequent AMA that are used
to determine eligibility for both irrigation and non-irrigation groundwater rights from
five years to ten years. (Sec. 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7)
2. Makes technical and conforming changes. (Sec. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7)
3. Contains a retroactivity clause of August 30, 2022. (Sec. 8)
Senate Amendments
1. Clarifies that a person who owned land that was legally irrigated in whole or in part with
groundwater at any point in the ten years preceding initiation of a subsequent AMA has
the right to use groundwater for the irrigation of such land. (Sec. 6)
☐ Prop 105 (45 votes) ☐ Prop 108 (40 votes) ☐ Emergency (40 votes) ☐ Fiscal Note