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ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES57th Legislature, 2nd Regular Session |
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HB 2053: appropriation; stormwater recharge mapping; sites
Sponsor: Representative Griffin, LD 19
Committee on Natural Resources, Energy & Water
Overview
Appropriates $100,000 from the state General Fund (GF) in fiscal year (FY) 2027 to the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) for updated stormwater recharge mapping. Directs ADWR to provide a map of recharge sites that meet certain specifications.
History
Laws 2016, Chapter 164 directed ADWR and the Arizona State Land Department (SLD) to cooperate to develop a preliminary report that identified potential water storage sites on State Trust land. Laws 2021, Chapter 33 directed the two agencies to focus specifically on underground water storage sites and allowed for the completion of the 2017 preliminary analysis (Water Storage Report, ADWR & SLD).
Laws 2025, Chapter 233 appropriated $250,000 in FY 2026 to the Natural Resource Conservation Board (NRCB) to clean and restore groundwater recharge facilities that provide flood control benefits and are located in a groundwater basin that has been designated as a subsequent active management area (subsequent AMA).
A general adjudication of a water right is defined as an action for the judicial determination or establishment of the extent and priority of the rights of all persons to use water in any river system and source (A.R.S. § 45-251).
An agricultural improvement district is a public, political, taxing subdivision of the state, and a municipal corporation to the extent of the powers and privileges conferred by Title 48, Chapter 17 or granted generally to municipal corporations and statutes of the state, including immunity of its property and bonds from taxation (A.R.S. § 48-2302).
Provisions
1. Appropriates $100,000 from the state GF in FY 2027 to ADWR for updated stormwater recharge mapping. (Sec. 1)
2. Directs ADWR to, within 180 days of the effective date of this act, cooperate with an agricultural improvement district and the NRCB to provide an updated map of potential stormwater recharge sites in the state that do not conflict with existing surface water rights. (Sec. 1)
3. Specifies that the updated stormwater recharge map must identify the location of potential stormwater recharge sites that:
a. are located on any lands in the state, including public and private lands;
b. have optimum soil conditions for stormwater infiltration and groundwater recharge; and
c. do not include streams or natural channels that are subject to a general adjudication of water rights or lands that stormwater may run off of and enter a stream or natural channel before evaporation. (Sec. 1)
4. Defines stormwater as rainwater runoff that does not enter a stream or natural channel and that is otherwise lost to evaporation. (Sec. 1)
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8. Initials CW/GG HB 2053
9. 1/6/2026 Page 0 Natural Resources, Energy & Water
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