ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Fifty-fourth Legislature

Second Regular Session

 

HB 2675: water conservation notice; no abandonment

Sponsor:  Representative Griffin, LD 14

Committee on Natural Resources, Energy & Water

Overview

Allows a water rights holder to file a conservation plan notice that describes conservation measures that they have or will implement and will exempt their water rights from claims of abandonment or forfeiture for up to 40 years.

History

Surface waters in Arizona belong to the public and are subject to appropriation. A person, the state or its political subdivisions can appropriate unappropriated waters for many uses. With certain exceptions, when a water right holder ceases or does not use the water for five successive years, the right ceases and the water reverts to the public and is again subject to prior appropriation (A.R.S. § 45-141).

If the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) Director determines that a water right may have reverted to the public because of non-use, the water right holder will be asked to explain why that right should not be considered relinquished at an administrative hearing. Statute allows certain reasons to be sufficient cause for non-use, including drought, active service in the U.S. armed forces during a military crisis and laws imposing land or water use restrictions or production quotas (A.R.S. § 45-189).

Provisions

1.    Allows a water rights holder to file a conservation plan notice with the ADWR Director. (Sec. 4)

2.    Requires this notice to include:

a)    The name and address of the water rights owner subject to this plan;

b)    A summary of all water rights that are subject to this plan;

c)    The place and purpose of use for the identified water rights and the current and historical use;

d)    A description of any water conservation measures that have been planned or implemented; and

e)    Any other information the ADWR Director deems necessary. (Sec. 4)

3.    Declares that, upon filing this notice, the water rights prescribed in it are not subject to a claim of abandonment or non-use. (Sec. 4)

4.    Forbids someone from accruing long-term storage credits for any water prescribed in the notice. (Sec. 4)

5.    Allows the ADWR Director to grant 10-year extensions for the notice up to 40 years after the date it was originally filed. (Sec. 4)

6.    States that conserving water pursuant to this notice does not constitute abandonment or forfeiture of water conserved. (Sec. 1 and 2)

7.    Specifies that water rights subject to a filed notice are sufficient cause for non-use when determining whether a water right has been relinquished. (Sec. 3)

8.       Makes technical and conforming changes. (Sec. 3)☐ Prop 105 (45 votes) ☐ Prop 108 (40 votes) ☐ Emergency (40 votes) ☐ Fiscal Note

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12.   Initials PAB                 Natural Resources, Energy & Water

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