Willcox Groundwater Basin designated as Arizona’s 7th active management area

Today, the Willcox Groundwater Basin was officially designated as Arizona’s seventh Active Management Area (AMA).

An AMA is a designated region where the state enforces regulations to manage and protect groundwater resources.

This designation is part of efforts to address concerns over dropping aquifer levels, particularly in areas with heavy agricultural, industrial, and residential use.

The authority for AMA designation comes from the Arizona Groundwater Management Act of 1980, the first time is has been used by the Hobbs administration.

It is the second AMA to be created in the last two years, following the Douglas AMA which was designated in December 2022.

In announcing the action, Governor Katie Hobbs called it a necessary step to protect rural Arizonans from uncontrolled groundwater pumping.

“Rural communities deserve to have their groundwater protected, and today’s action is a critical milestone for the people of southeastern Arizona,” said Governor Katie Hobbs. “For too long politicians have buried their heads in the sand, refused to take action and caved to out-of-state special interests profiting off Arizona’s water.”

This new designation will implement conservation requirements, protecting over 8,000 people and local economies that depend on the Willcox Basin.

“This decision by me goes to the heart of our State’s landmark 1980 groundwater protection legislation which invests in the ADWR Director the duty to take necessary steps to defend our groundwater supplies for future generations,” said Director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR), Tom Buschatzke. “As my staff has made clear in public hearings held in Willcox and in response to comments on our presentations from members of the, the hydrologic conditions in the basin meet the statutory requirements.”

In November of 2022, Cochise County voters defeated a ballot measure that would have designated an AMA in the Willcox Basin. In that same election, they approved one for the nearby Douglas Basin.

In August, Gov. Hobbs traveled to Willcox and spent a day listening to area residents and their concerns about wells drying up.

At that time she told AZPM she was reluctant to use executive action and was hoping the Legislature would act. State lawmakers reconvene for their annual session in January.

A public hearing was held on Nov. 22, at the Willcox Community Center, where attendees were invited to provide comments about the designation.

Groundwater levels have dropped more than 400 feet in some parts of the Willcox Basin. That drop in the aquifer has resulted in nearly 50 miles of earth fissures opening. Land subsidence, or sinking, can also be found in parts of the basin as a result of the dropping water levels.

This AMA designation is intended to address land subsidence which threatens property and groundwater storage and to mitigate impacts water quality caused by over-extraction.

According to the ADWR, the AMA encompasses parts of Cochise and Graham counties within the boundaries of the entire Willcox Groundwater Basin, that is located in the northern Sulfur Springs Valley and entire surface watershed area that contributes to Willcox Playa and upper watersheds of Leslie Creek and Rucker Canyon that are east of the Swisshelm Mountains in the Whitewater Draw watershed.