Former ADWR Director Kathleen Ferris shares insights on the origins of the Department with ADWR staff

Staff members of the Arizona Department of Water Resources recently were treated to a lively, enlightening hour-and-a-half introduction to… themselves. 

Renowned water lawyer Kathleen Ferris sat down on December 2 with about 100 ADWR staff members, both online & present, to discuss the origins of their Department, including the creation of Arizona’s famous Groundwater Management Act of 1980 and the subsequent water laws that provided ADWR with the tools to regulate groundwater use in Active Management Areas for the last 45 years.

A part of ADWR's Water-X, Leaders Past & Present series, the discussion with Ferris was led by Deputy Assistant Director Gwen Opel. It was hosted by the Department's Junior Leader Forum.

Ferris served as staff attorney at the newly created ADWR under the agency’s original director, Wes Steiner. Later, she would take on the job herself as ADWR’s Director. Prior to all that, however, she served as a legislative analyst, leading an overworked band of legislative staffers at creating the legal framework for the groundwater laws (including the creation of ADWR) that ultimately would be passed by bipartisan majorities. 

I didn’t go to law school wanting to be a water lawyer, Ferris told her audience at the outset. I had no idea what to do with my life. But if you take advantage of the opportunities that life presents to you, things can happen.

And happen they did.  Ferris today is considered a top figure in water policy and law in Arizona, with a career spanning nearly four decades focused on groundwater management, water rights, and sustainable water policy. She currently serves as a Senior Research Fellow with the Kyl Center for Water Policy at the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University.

Ferris’ involvement in Arizona’s water issues dates back to 1977, when legislative leaders appointed her executive director of the Arizona Groundwater Management Study Commission. In that role she played a key part in shaping the legislation that would become the 1980 Arizona Groundwater Management Act — a watershed law credited with instituting one of the nation’s most forward-thinking frameworks for groundwater regulation.

I knew what we were doing was super-special, said Ferris. Those were magical times. As Executive Director of the commission, Ferris said she had the support of leadership going in. 

In addition to enjoying the support of the legislative heavyweights of the time, such as Republican Burton Barr and Democrat Alfredo Guttierez, Ferris also had the backing of then-Governor Bruce Babbitt.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t heap praise on Bruce Babbitt, she said. He knew all the issues that were going on related to groundwater. Bruce was unique. He was not just a lawyer, but a geologist as well.

When the newly formed ADWR began operations, Ferris served as its chief counsel for five years. In 1985, she was appointed by Babbitt to lead ADWR as Director — a major responsibility that placed her at the helm of Arizona’s water regulation during a critical period. 

After her tenure at ADWR, Ferris transitioned to the non-governmental side of water advocacy and management. She became Executive Director of the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association (AMWUA), a coalition representing many of the State’s major municipal water providers. She also served as legal counsel for AMWUA for 36 years. 

Over the course of her career, Ferris has remained a significant force in shaping Arizona’s water governance framework — from pioneering groundwater legislation to guiding municipal water policy and influencing contemporary water-policy research. 

Her career demonstrates how legal expertise, policy understanding, and institutional leadership can combine to yield lasting impact on regional water sustainability.