Arizona Laws 45-615.01. Temporary groundwater and irrigation efficiency projects fund; purpose; report; definition
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 45-615.01
- 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or, in the case of the Santa Cruz active management area, active management of any water, other than stored water, withdrawn from a well.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
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- 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
- Irrigation district: means a political subdivision, however designated, established pursuant to Title 48, Chapter 17 or 19. See Arizona Laws 45-402
- Irrigation non-expansion area: means a geographical area that has been designated pursuant to article 3 of this chapter as having insufficient groundwater to provide a reasonably safe supply for the irrigation of the cultivated lands at the current rate of withdrawal. See Arizona Laws 45-402
- Stored water: means water that is stored underground for the purpose of recovery pursuant to a permit issued under chapter 3. See Arizona Laws 45-402
- Surface water: means the waters of all sources, flowing in streams, canyons, ravines or other natural channels, or in definite underground channels, whether perennial or intermittent, floodwater, wastewater or surplus water, and of lakes, ponds and springs on the surface. See Arizona Laws 45-101
(Rpld. 4/1/28)
A. The temporary groundwater and irrigation efficiency projects fund is established for the purpose of funding projects for the construction and rehabilitation of wells and related infrastructure for the withdrawal and efficient delivery of groundwater by qualified irrigation districts in the Phoenix active management area, the Pinal active management area and the Harquahala irrigation non-expansion area. The fund consists of legislative appropriations, groundwater withdrawal fees collected in the Pinal active management area pursuant to section 45-611, subsection C, paragraph 5, grants from federal agencies and monies deposited in the fund by qualified irrigation districts in the Phoenix active management area, the Pinal active management area and the Harquahala irrigation non-expansion area. Groundwater withdrawal fees deposited in the fund shall be accounted for separately from other monies in the fund and shall be used only for constructing and rehabilitating wells and related infrastructure in the Pinal active management area. Monies in the fund are continuously appropriated for the purposes of this section.
B. The director may accept and deposit into the fund monies, grants, gifts, contributions and devises to assist in carrying out the purposes of this section.
C. The director shall administer the fund. On notice from the director, the state treasurer shall invest and divest monies in the fund as provided by section 35-313, and monies earned from investment shall be credited to the fund.
D. The director may grant monies from the fund to qualified irrigation districts established pursuant to Title 48, Chapter 19 in the Phoenix active management area, the Pinal active management area and the Harquahala irrigation non-expansion area for the purposes described in subsection A of this section. In granting monies from the fund, the director may give preference to wells and related infrastructure that would be used to recover stored water. Grants made to qualified irrigation districts are exempt from Title 41, Chapter 24.
E. Before December 31 of each year, the director shall submit to the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate a written report describing the activities of the department for the preceding fiscal year related to expenditures from the fund. The report shall include an accounting for expenditures from the fund and how the monies were used to finance projects for the construction and rehabilitation of wells and related infrastructure for the withdrawal and efficient delivery of groundwater by qualified irrigation districts in the Phoenix active management area, the Pinal active management area and the Harquahala irrigation non-expansion area.
F. Except as provided in subsection G of this section, monies in the fund are exempt from the provisions of section 35-190 relating to lapsing of appropriations.
G. On June 30, 2027, any unencumbered monies in the fund shall be proportionally distributed to the fund’s contributors by December 31, 2027 according to the total amount of monies deposited in the fund by each contributor. The proportion of the unencumbered monies attributable to groundwater withdrawal fees levied under section 45-611, subsection C, paragraph 5 shall be deposited in the Arizona water banking fund established by section 45-2425 and shall be used only in the Pinal active management area in the same manner as groundwater withdrawal fees collected in the Pinal active management area pursuant to section 45-611, subsection C, paragraph 3.
H. All monies deposited in the temporary groundwater and irrigation efficiency projects fund shall be held in trust. The monies in the fund may be used only for the purposes prescribed in this section and may not be appropriated or transferred by the legislature to fund the general operations of this state or to otherwise meet the obligations of the state general fund. This subsection does not apply to any taxes or other levies that are imposed pursuant to title 42 or 43.
I. For the purposes of this section, "qualified irrigation district" means an irrigation district that meets all of the following requirements:
1. The irrigation district received central Arizona project water in any year after calendar year 2014 other than through a groundwater savings facility permit issued under chapter 3.1 of this title.
2. There are at least nine thousand acres that may be lawfully irrigated within the boundaries of the irrigation district.
3. For an irrigation district located in the Phoenix active management area only, the district did not deliver surface water other than central Arizona project water in calendar year 2017.
4. The irrigation district submitted an application to the department for monies from the fund established by this section to construct an irrigation efficiency project in the Phoenix active management area, the Pinal active management area or the Harquahala irrigation non-expansion area.