Governor extends Douglas AMA Groundwater Rights deadline to September

In response to concerns voiced by property owners in the recent, voter-approved Douglas Active Management Area, Governor Katie Hobbs has signed legislation extending the deadline for submitting grandfathered groundwater-rights applications into September.

Governor Katie Hobbs on March 25 signed House Bill 2016, extending the deadline for water users in the newly created Douglas AMA to submit their grandfathered groundwater right applications to the Arizona Department of Water Resources. 

At the same time, the Governor also announced her appointments to the Douglas AMA Groundwater Users Advisory Council. 

“This legislation will give Douglas AMA water users more time to submit their water right applications to ADWR,” said the Governor.

“And I’m confident that these local leaders who have volunteered to serve on the Groundwater Users Advisory Council will provide invaluable input as the water conservation programs are developed for the basin.”

ADWR has created a Douglas AMA webpage that includes up-to-date information about the application procedure. 

“AMAs” are areas within the state that are subject to certain statutory and administrative regulations regarding the withdrawal and use of groundwater. Each AMA has its own management goal, which guides water management in the AMA. 

Management plans are developed and adopted for each AMA and contain mandatory conservation requirements designed to help move the AMA toward its management goal. AMAs are also subject to 100-year assured water supply requirements for new subdivisions.

The Douglas AMA was created as a result of a local vote on November 8, 2022, on whether to designate the Douglas Groundwater Basin as a subsequent active management area.  The AMA was designated on December 1, 2022.

Pursuant to Arizona statute (A.R.S. § 45-416), only those lands that were legally irrigated in the five years preceding August 30, 2022 -  the day that residents filed their petition - may be irrigated within the basin. 

“Irrigate” means to apply water to two or more acres of land to produce plants or parts of plants for sale or human consumption, or for use as feed for livestock, range livestock, or poultry.

ADWR anticipates that by August, the Department will publish an initial draft of the full management plan text for public comment and for comment from the GUAC. 

The formal adoption process should begin in September, which will include an updated draft, a hearing, and a public comment period.