(The Center Square) – Cochise County residents, farmers and ranchers gathered Friday for a public hearing on the potential of designating the Willcox groundwater basin as an Active Management Area.
The hearing was held by the Arizona Department of Water Resources as part of the AMA initiation process that was deemed necessary by the ADWR and Gov. Katie Hobbs. ADWR Director Tom Buschatzke will review statements made during the public hearing and other proposals made by stakeholders and make his final determination within 30 days.
While some believe an AMA is the long-awaited answer to Willcox’s water woes, many of those who use water from the basin are not in support of this type of regulation.
“Cuts of water use at 10% could cost millions of dollars to the agricultural economy in the area,” said Phil Bashaw, CEO of the Arizona Farm Bureau Federation. “Agriculture in the Willcox basin in particular, is a huge part of the economy down there. So, the imposition of new regulatory structures on that industry is going to have an impact.”
The biggest draw on rural basins is agriculture as commercial farming is one of the biggest economic drivers in those communities, with agricultural use of rural basins reaching up to 99% of the overall groundwater use. Furthermore, Willcox is home to 85% of the state’s grapes that contribute to the wine industry.
“On behalf of the Arizona Wine Growers Association, we’d like to express our opposition to the designation of the Active Management Area within the Willcox ground basin,” said Barbara Pierce, representing the Arizona Wine Growers Association. “The implementation of such a program would have a devastating effect on the Arizona vibrant grape and wine industry and prevent it from realizing its potential.”
Additionally, voters in the area decidedly voted against establishing an AMA in the Willcox basin during the 2022 midterm elections.
“Two years ago, the people of Willcox voted no on establishing an AMA,” said Sonia Gasho, a local rancher in Pierce, on Friday. “Governor Hobbs and Director Buschatzke’s disdain of that decision is insulting and appears to be from a bureaucratic, ‘we know best,’ dictatorial position. The people have spoken, and that should never be ignored.”
Nobody in the hearing denied the declining availability of groundwater in the Willcox area. Most of rural Arizona’s groundwater lies outside of an AMA or an Irrigation Non-Expansion Area, meaning that the water supply is neither monitored nor regulated. However, the ADWR periodically monitors the basin levels in rural areas. While this data is sparse, the ADWR can be sure that the demands on rural basins outweigh the supply.
“If all pumping stopped today, it would take over 280 years for the aquifer to recover [to pre-1940 levels],” said ADWR Chief Hydrologist Ryan Mitchell on Friday.
Additionally, Mitchell noted the increasing amount of land subsidence – where the ground actually sinks due to the lack of groundwater.
“In the last 14 years alone, we have seen and measured between 47 and 55 inches of subsidence,” Mitchell said. “If everyone were to stop pumping today and disappear out of the basin, the land would continue to subside for a few decades before it stabilized.”
Land subsidence can also cause large cracks in the ground, known as earth fissures, endangering the foundation of homes near the basin.
“Due to uneven subsidence, my home is now broken in half and is unsellable and unsafe,” said Janet Randall on Friday. “I wholeheartedly support an AMA to stop more wells and homes from being damaged by subsidence in this area.”
While some residents in the area support an AMA, many farmers and ranchers are calling for an alternative solution to preserve the agricultural economy – something residents and stakeholders have been asking for, for years. However, all efforts for alternative legislation have been struck down.
“This is a unilateral decision that the governor made through the director of the ADWR which isn’t right,” said Rep. Lupe Diaz, noting that Hobbs has vetoed six bills that were specifically aimed at the Willcox basin during her time as governor. “I do believe the solution is a local solution.”
However, Rep. Stephanie Stahl-Hamilton said that an AMA is the best solution and that proposed alternatives would not stop the water levels from depleting.
“We failed the people of the Willcox basin by not developing an alternative local groundwater management tool that truly mitigates the excessive groundwater depletion,” she said. “An AMA is simply the only option available today that even approaches being able to provide relief to this community.”
Buschatzke will make his decision within 30 days accompanied by a report of the findings proving that an AMA is necessary to preserve the existing supply of groundwater, prevent land subsidence from further endangering property and continued groundwater use is threatening water quality.
