Arizona Laws 45-555. Transportation of groundwater withdrawn in Big Chino sub-basin of the Verde River groundwater basin to initial active management area; exception
A. A city or town that owns land consisting of historically irrigated acres in the Big Chino sub-basin of the Verde River groundwater basin, as designated by order of the director dated June 21, 1984, or a city or town with the consent of the landowner, may withdraw from the land for transportation to an adjacent initial active management area an amount of groundwater determined pursuant to this section. The amount of groundwater that may be withdrawn from the land pursuant to this section shall not exceed:
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 45-555
- Active management area: means a geographical area that has been designated pursuant to article 2 of this chapter as requiring active management of groundwater or, in the case of the Santa Cruz active management area, active management of any water, other than stored water, withdrawn from a well. See Arizona Laws 45-402
- Department: means the department of water resources. See Arizona Laws 45-101
- Director: means the director of water resources, who is also the director of the department. See Arizona Laws 45-101
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Farm: means an area of irrigated land that is under the same ownership, that is served by a water distribution system common to the irrigated land and to which can be applied common conservation, water measurement and water accounting procedures. See Arizona Laws 45-402
- Groundwater: means water under the surface of the earth regardless of the geologic structure in which it is standing or moving. See Arizona Laws 45-101
- Groundwater basin: means an area that, as nearly as known facts allow as determined by the director pursuant to this chapter, may be designated so as to enclose a relatively hydrologically distinct body or related bodies of groundwater, which shall be described horizontally by surface description. See Arizona Laws 45-402
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- town: means a city or town incorporated or chartered under the constitution and laws of this state. See Arizona Laws 45-402
- Transportation: means the movement of groundwater from the point of withdrawal to the point of use. See Arizona Laws 45-402
1. In any year two times the annual transportation allotment for the land determined pursuant to subsection B.
2. For any period of ten consecutive years computed in continuing progressive series beginning in the year transportation of groundwater from the land begins, ten times the annual transportation allotment for the land.
B. The director shall determine the annual transportation allotment as follows:
1. Determine each farm or portion of a farm owned or leased by the city or town in the sub-basin.
2. For each such farm or portion of a farm, determine the historically irrigated acres retired from irrigation. Multiply the sum of those historically irrigated acres by three acre-feet per acre.
C. In making the determination required by subsection B, the director shall rely only on credible documentary evidence submitted by the city or town or otherwise obtained by the department.
D. For the purposes of subsections A, B and C:
1. "Documentary evidence" means correspondence, contracts, other agreements, aerial photography, affidavits, receipts or official records.
2. "Farm" means an area of land in the sub-basin that is or was served by a common irrigation water distribution system.
3. "Historically irrigated acres" means acres of land overlying an aquifer that were irrigated with groundwater at any time between January 1, 1975 and January 1, 1990.
E. A city or town in the Prescott active management area may withdraw and transport eight thousand sixty-eight acre-feet per year of groundwater from the Big Chino sub-basin of the Verde River groundwater basin to the Prescott active management area if the city or town does both of the following:
1. Relinquishes a supply of water from the central Arizona project allocated to the city or town.
2. Enters into a federally-approved settlement of the water rights claims of an Indian tribe in the Prescott active management area.
F. Notwithstanding the volume limitation in subsection E, in any year in which a city or town that qualifies under subsection E delivers more than two hundred thirty-one acre-feet of water to an Indian tribe for use on its reservation in the Prescott active management area pursuant to a federally-approved Indian water rights settlement, the city or town may withdraw and transport additional groundwater from the Big Chino sub-basin to the Prescott active management area in an amount equal to the amount by which those deliveries exceed two hundred thirty-one acre-feet.
G. Groundwater that is withdrawn and transported pursuant to subsections E and F may be delivered to and used by any city, town or Indian tribe in the Prescott active management area without regard to whether that entity withdraws and transports the water.