Arizona farmers oppose water regulations as land sinks beneath them

Joe Duhownik

WILLCOX, Ariz (CN) — As the land beneath them sinks and cracks due to excessive groundwater pumping, ranchers in southern Arizona still overwhelmingly oppose state-mandated water use restrictions.

In a public meeting Friday, ranchers from Willcox, Pearce and other communities in the Willcox Basin, which spans nearly 2,000 square miles in Cochise and Graham counties, fervently rejected state efforts to regulate pumping by designating the basin as an active water management area, or an AMA.

“The AMA will not change groundwater overdraft,” resident and wine grower Chad Preston told six members of the Arizona Department of Water Resources facilitating the meeting. “It will only stifle growth.”

The overdraft and reduced water levels have resulted in sinking land and large cracks in the earth known as fissures. Wells have gone dry across the area, forcing homeowners and ranchers to spend tens of thousands digging new wells or deepening the ones they have.

Infrastructure is paying the price.

“Due to uneven subsiding, my house has broken in half, and is now unsellable and unsafe,” Janet Randall told the crowd of nearly 350 gathered in the Willcox Community Center on Friday afternoon.

Southern basin resident Steve Kisier shamed ranchers for opposing regulations to protect their economic interests while ignoring the dangers Randall and others are facing.

“If you live in the Sunizona area, you’re lucky if your well isn’t dropping 10 feet per year. What about those people?" he asked.

“Take your heads out of the sand and wake up,” he added. “We need to do something now.”

Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke will make the final determination within 30 days.

In most of Arizona, water pumping is virtually lawless. The Groundwater Management Act of 1980 established five active management areas across the state in Phoenix, Tucson, Prescott, Pinal and Santa Cruz. The border town of Douglas established the state’s sixth AMA in a special election in 2022.

In those areas, groundwater pumping is regulated to prevent overuse, and water users are subject to conservation measures specific to the area. New developments must demonstrate 100 years of assured water supply to move forward, and wells drawing more than 35 gallons per minute are registered and monitored.

In the Willcox basin, unregulated water pumping has led many to believe an AMA is right for their community too. Since the 1940s, the underground water table has been reduced by more than 400 feet, losing 5.7 million acre-feet of water, Department of Water Resources Chief Hydrologist Ryan Mitchell told the crowd in Willcox. Water is being pumped from the basin 3 1/2 times faster than it’s being replenished.

As a result, the subsurface earth that was once saturated with water dries and compacts on itself, eventually sinking. In some areas, the land has sunk as much as 11 1/2 feet, and is sinking by 3 1/2 inches per year. Mitchell said that if the community stopped pumping completely, the land could still sink for decades, and it would take even longer for the water level to rise to its natural levels.

“If all pumping stopped today, it would take over 280 years for the aquifer to recover,” Mitchell said.

As in Douglas, residents of the Willcox basin held a special election in 2022, but voted against the creation of an AMA by more than 60%. In light of worsening conditions though, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs proposed the state establish one anyway. Buschatzke initiated the proceedings Oct. 23, a few weeks after Hobbs visited the area to see the effects of over pumping first hand.

Those opposed to the AMA complained that neither of the two state officials making the decisions attended the meeting.

If Buschatzke approves the AMA designation, the department will have two years to adopt a water management plan.

Much of the opposition Friday came from wine growers who fear an AMA would prevent them from expanding their vineyards. Others said it isn’t fair to put the economic interests of ranchers over other community members.

“I am just as much a part of the economy of this area as they are,” Cochise resident Melanie Lawrence said.

State Representative Lupe Diaz, a Republican from Benson, chided Hobbs for imposing state control when, he says, the area needs a local plan, such as a water district that allows a locally elected board of directors to make their own cuts without state interference.

“They’re imposing these laws rather than allowing the ranchers to solve their own problems voluntarily,” Diaz said.

He added that Hobbs vetoed a litany of Republican bills meant to address the situation in Willcox and similar areas, such as last session’s Senate Bill 1221, which he said would have provided more flexible options.

Democratic state Representative Stephanie Stahl-Hamilton of Tucson said the bill would only allow for a 15% reduction in pumping, which wouldn’t solve the current crisis.

“An AMA is simply the only option today that even remotely provides the people of Wilcox with a solution,” she said.