A monthly members-only column by Alan Dulaney
The rural/urban divide in Arizona is palpably real. The antipathy of farmers and ranchers for any proposal to manage groundwater, despite declining water level elevations in several groundwater basins, has proven a hindrance to various management proposals. Most of rural Arizona does not want another layer of regulation. Yet there are many who look to the future, projected growth, changing climate, and see the need for protecting their aquifer against over-drafting. The Coconino Plateau Water Advisory Council and Watershed Partnership is an excellent example of the rising recognition that some action is necessary. Other groups with similar concerns can be found in several rural counties.
The only way to access groundwater in sufficient volumes to provide a supply for a beneficial use is via a well. Most well owners in rural Arizona are interested in protecting their own wells so that they can continue to use them, and they worry about new wells coming in that would increase declines in water levels (as has occurred in Mohave, La Paz, and Cochise Counties). They just want to avoid impacts to their wells. They don’t necessarily accept management areas of any sort as addressing that concern. However, if regulatory structures such as management areas prove unacceptable to rural well owners, there may be another approach.
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