Assigned to NR & APPROP                                                                               AS PASSED BY COMMITTEE

 

 

 

 

ARIZONA STATE SENATE

Fifty-Seventh Legislature, First Regular Session

 

AMENDED

FACT SHEET FOR H.B. 2103

 

appropriation; Colorado River Compact; defense

Purpose

Appropriates $1,000,000 in FY 2026 from the state General Fund (state GF) to the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) to initiate or defend litigation, and to protect and enforce Arizona's allocation of Colorado River water under the Colorado River Compact of 1922 (Compact), against any claim by any upper basin state or the United States.

Background

The Director of ADWR is authorized to consult, advise and cooperate with the U.S. Secretary of the Interior on behalf of Arizona to deliver water of the main stream of the Colorado River for use in Arizona (A.R.S. 45-107).

The Compact was ratified in 1922 as an agreement between the seven states of the Colorado River Basin. The Compact divided the states into the Upper and Lower Basin and apportioned 7,500,000 acre feet of water per annum to each basin (A.R.S. § 45-1311). Several documents and agreements that govern the operation and management of the Colorado River are set to expire in 2026, including the: a) 2007 Interim Guidelines; b) 2019 Drought Contingency Plans; and c) 1944 Water Treaty between the United States and Mexico (USBR).

H.B. 2103 appropriates $1,000,000 in FY 2026 from the state GF to ADWR.

Provisions

1.   Appropriates $1,000,000 from the state GF to ADWR to initiate or defend litigation, and to protect and enforce Arizona's allocation of Colorado River water under the Compact, against any claim by any upper basin state or the United States.

2.   Becomes effective on the general effective date.

Amendments Adopted by the Natural Resources Committee

· Specifies that the appropriation is to initiate or defend litigation, and to protect and enforce Arizona's allocation of Colorado River water under the Compact, against any claim by any upper basin state or the United States.

House Action                                                           Senate Action

NREW            1/28/25      DP       10-0-0-0             NR                  3/25/2        DPA       6-0-2-0

APPROP         1/29/25      DP       14-0-0-4

3rd Read          2/13/25                  53-0-7

Prepared by Senate Research

April 21, 2025

SB/SN/slp