Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs and the state's Department of Water Resources have initiated steps to regulate groundwater pumping in the rural southeast, where agricultural use is rapidly depleting supplies. The department announced a public hearing on 22 November to discuss designating the Willcox Groundwater Basin, spanning Cochise and Graham counties, as an 'active management area'.
In the interim, new agricultural use of the basin is prohibited while the department evaluates whether to establish the management area, which would set sustainability goals for the basin and its aquifers. Excessive pumping has caused wells to dry up and ground collapse, damaging infrastructure. A department report showed that 26 regularly measured wells in the basin dropped between 10 feet (3 metres) and nearly 142 feet (43 metres) from 2000 to 2020.
Historically, Arizona farm interests have opposed groundwater regulations, arguing they are too inflexible. However, pressure from local residents has mounted on Hobbs and the water agency to address the depletion. If approved, the Willcox Groundwater Basin management area would be the first created by executive action since the 1980 Groundwater Management Act. Other such areas, including in Phoenix and Tucson, were established by law.
A management area in the Douglas Basin, south of Willcox, was the first to be created via citizen petition and election in 2022. A similar initiative for the Willcox Basin failed at the ballot box in November 2022.
