A year of record achievement: The list of ADWR accomplishments in 2024 is a long one

Helping to finalize two major tribal water settlements in November seemed to have capped another monumental year in water management in Arizona for ADWR. 

After all, the two agreements involving four Native American tribes concluded Arizona’s involvement in water-rights negotiations that in some cases had lasted decades. 

The Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Act resolved long-standing water-rights claims of the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe. That settlement act also ratifies a treaty that grants the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe 5,400 acres of land, ending over 160 years of shared territory with the Navajo Nation.

In addition, the State of Arizona also came to an agreement with the Yavapai Apache Nation that will provide the north-central Arizona tribe with water from the C.C. Cragin Reservoir on the Mogollon Rim.

Both sets of agreements are currently before Congress. Governor Katie Hobbs officially concluded Arizona’s role in the agreements on December 19 when she signed the two settlements. They were not the State’s only landmark tribal water agreement of the year, however. 

In April, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs joined ADWR Director Tom Buschatzke and top federal officials, including Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, in signing documents implementing an agreement allowing the Colorado River Indian Tribes to market portions of their Colorado River allocation to water users off-reservation.

There were major developments in rural groundwater management in 2024 as well.

In December, Director Buschatzke examined the evidence and concluded that a seventh Active Management Area was needed in Arizona, this one to help protect groundwater supplies in the Willcox Basin. The decision by ADWR Director Tom Buschatzke would constitute the first time an AMA would be created by order of the Director.

Seemingly on every water-related front, 2024 proved consequential. Whether it involved rural groundwater supplies, tribal water rights, urban groundwater or the Colorado River, the year provided no shortage of water-related challenges in need of being addressed.

It certainly proved true among the seven Colorado River States, which are struggling to find common ground on new guidelines for operating the river system. Operated by the Bureau of Reclamation, the current Colorado River operating guidelines are set to expire at the end of 2026.

In early May, the three Lower Basin States of Arizona, California and Nevada committed to conserving 3 million acre-feet through 2026 to address critical elevations in Lake Powell and Lake Mead. On May 9, the Department of Interior signed a new Record of Decision (ROD) to implement that commitment. 

The volumes of water committed by the three states for river-system conservation will exceed what is required under the 2007 Interim Guidelines and the Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan. The additional volumes of conservation under the ROD could add nearly 37 feet to Lake Mead between 2023 and 2026.

Arizona water users, in particular, have stood up to the conservation challenge. Many Arizona parties have made significant contributions toward reaching the goal of 3 million acre-feet of water through 2026, conserving nearly 950,000 acre-feet in 2023 alone.

In a year of record water-related achievements, it should come as no surprise that ADWR Director Buschatzke once again was honored as an “Arizona Leader of the Year” in environmental policy by the Arizona Capitol Times. 

It was the Director’s third consecutive Cap Time Leader of the Year award. Of the 38 leaders so honored by the publication in 2024, Director Buschatzke is one of only two public-policy leaders whose work has been recognized by the Capitol Times in each of the last three years.