Tag: Groundwater

Arizona House Committee Warns AG Kris Mayes Against Using Tax Dollars to ‘Influence Water Policy’ and ‘Harass’ Farmers

Tom Pappert
Kris Mayes Arizona

Two Republicans in the Arizona State House announced its investigation of Attorney General Kris Mayes over using her office to advance her political career with her recent legal threat against farmers over water use.

State Representatives Austin Smith (R-Surprise) and Jacqueline Parker (R-Mesa) on Wednesday sent a letter to Mayes which they say includes requests for “public records related to recent unfounded attacks she has made on the agricultural industry, her threats to file a public nuisance lawsuit against Arizona’s farmers and using town hall events to make campaign speeches.”

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Arizona Gov. Hobbs Cancels Saudi Land Deal Allowing Outsized Water Use

The Center Square

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs has canceled a deal giving a subsidiary of a Saudi Arabian company free groundwater to grow cattle feed and send it back to the Middle East amid prolonged drought in the Southwest.

The lease in question was a State Land Department deal in La Paz County signed before Hobbs was in office that didn’t reflect unlimited rights to the water under the surface. The company used the state land to grow alfalfa, a water-intensive crop, and ship it back to the Middle East to feed cattle. Saudi Arabia mostly banned the growing of alfalfa in 2018 due to the water necessary to raise the crop.

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Arizona State Republicans Celebrate Large Investments in Water Security and Projects

Neil Jones

Arizona will be investing over $360 million in state water security and new projects, according to a Thursday statement from the Arizona House Majority Caucus.

State Representative Gail Griffin (R-Hereford), Chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, Energy, & Water, shared that these investments come from the state general fund through the new state budget. Some of the funded projects include $20 million to reconstruct the Winslow levee, $25 million for groundwater delivery infrastructure, $15 million in on-farm irrigation efficiency grants, nearly $40 million for well projects in Peoria and Gilbert, and $810,000 for irrigation systems projects in Glendale. Additionally, funding will also go to studying water supply demands, rural water needs, and brackish groundwater.

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New Joint Legislative Committee Holds First Meeting on Arizona’s Water Stability

Neil Jones

The Joint Legislative Ad Hoc Committee on Water Security met for the first time on Tuesday, hearing testimony from state water authorities and outlining its plans for the coming months.

“Arizona has 12 to 13 million acre-feet of water banked underground. Arizona has water, but we have challenges, and we need to come up with solutions for those challenges,” said Representative Gail Griffin (R-Hereford), Co-Chair of the Committee.

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State Lawmakers Urge Gov. Hobbs to Protect Arizona’s Water Supply from the Colorado River

Neil Jones

A group of Republican lawmakers, including Representatives Gail Griffin (R-Hereford), Lupe Diaz (R-Benson), and Senator Sine Kerr (R-Buckeye), sent Governor Katie Hobbs (D) a letter Friday, demanding that she stick up for Arizona’s water future and defend access to the Colorado River.

“Under the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation’s (“BOR”) Action Alternative 1 for allocating cuts on the Colorado River, which allocates cuts based strictly on the seniority of rights, Arizona’s citizens that rely on the Central Arizona Project will see dramatic reductions, potentially cutting them off from the Colorado River completely,” the legislators wrote. “With our state’s population and economic prosperity on the line, protecting our state’s share of the Colorado River from the looming risk of complete disconnection is paramount.”

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