ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

57th Legislature, 2nd Regular Session

Majority Research Staff

House: NREW DPA 6-4-0-0 | APPROP DPA 11-7-0-0

☐ Prop 105 (45 votes)	     ☐ Prop 108 (40 votes)      ☐ Emergency (40 votes)	☐ Fiscal Note


HB 2053: appropriation; stormwater recharge mapping; sites

Sponsor: Representative Griffin, LD 19

House Engrossed

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 one year after the effective date of this act, coordinate with agricultural improvement districts, irrigation districts, other water users in the state and the NRCB to provide an updated map of potential stormwater recharge sites in the state that would not capture appropriable surface water. (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. would not, if developed, capture appropriable surface water. (Sec. 1)

4.   Defines stormwater as unappropriated 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                      HB 2053

9.   2/27/2026  Page 0 House Engrossed

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