ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Fifty-fifth Legislature

First Regular Session

HB 2041: groundwater replenishment reserves

Sponsor: Representative Griffin, LD 14

Committee on Natural Resources, Energy & Water

Overview

Modifies the formula that the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District (CAGRD) uses to calculate its required replenishment reserve.

History

CAGRD is a division of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District that engages in groundwater replenishment. CAGRD's membership is voluntary and limited to municipalities, water companies, subdivisions or homeowners' associations in the Phoenix, Pinal and Tucson Active Management Areas (AMAs). Enrollment in CAGRD requires members to subject their lands to replenishment assessments and fees. In return, CAGRD must secure renewable water supplies to replace the groundwater its members use. Additionally, enrollment in CAGRD allows members to meet the requirements for a certificate or designation of assured water supply (A.R.S. § 48-3771 et seq.).

CAGRD must establish and maintain a replenishment reserve of long-term storage credits (LTSCs) to ensure fulfillment of its replenishment obligations. LTSCs are accrued through permitted facilities that store water in an aquifer through direct or indirect recharge. Credits are generated when water is added to an aquifer. The holder of those credits can later withdraw the stored water from the aquifer. The size of this replenishment reserve is based on a reserve target for each AMA, which is calculated by the following statutory formula:

1) Begin with the projected 100-year replenishment obligation for AMA;

2) Subtract the total volume of water CAGRD will use to meet its replenishment obligations for that AMA, according to its plan of operation; and

3) Multiply the result by 20% (A.R.S. § 48-3772(E)).

CAGRD must include this replenishment reserve in the plan of operation that it submits to the Arizona Department of Water Resource Director every ten years (A.R.S. § 45-576.02). For its 2015 plan of operation, CAGRD reported a target replenishment reserve of about 764,500 acre-feet.

Provisions

1. Modifies the formula for calculating CAGRD's replenishment reserve as follows:

a) For each AMA, add together the annual projected replenishment obligation for each of the 100 years following the submission of CAGRD's plan of operation;

b) Subtract the total volume of water CAGRD will use to meet its replenishment obligations for that AMA, according to its plan of operation from the sum of the AMA's projected 100-year replenishment obligation; and

c) Multiply the results by 20%. (Sec. 2)

2. Redefines projected replenishment obligation as CAGRD's total projected annual groundwater replenishment obligation for each of the 100 years following the submission of its plan of operation. (Sec. 1)

3. Makes technical changes. (Sec. 2)

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7. HB 2041

8. Initials PAB Page 0 Natural Resources, Energy & Water

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