Lawmakers proved that they can work in a bipartisan fashion on water issues in Arizona with the passage of Senate Bill 1611, groundwater savings credit, also known as “Ag to Urban.” As we face tough choices ahead on the Colorado River, it is noteworthy to see this level of collaboration among Republican and Democratic lawmakers on a major water issue in Arizona.
Audubon Southwest focuses on improving water security for communities, habitats, and birds across Arizona. We engage at the state legislature to advance these policy and funding priorities to improve Arizona’s water outlook and to protect our lands and waters.
Why is this legislation significant?
In 2019, the Arizona Department of Water Resources found that the Pinal Active Management Area no longer had groundwater available for new housing development that relied solely on groundwater. The sophisticated analysis conducted by the Arizona Department of Water Resources revealed there would be “unmet demand” over 100 years if new housing growth was allowed to continue. In 2023, the Phoenix Active Management Area faced the same situation. All the groundwater was spoken for in these two Active Management Areas and there could be no new housing growth on groundwater.
While this was the intention of the Groundwater Management Act, to ensure sufficient water for growth, what this meant in practice was that the existing agricultural lands in the Pinal and Phoenix Active Management Areas could continue pumping the groundwater they had historically been using—but they could not convert to housing development, which uses less water per acre than agriculture and allows for more water reuse (because houses generate wastewater through toilet flushing and other indoor uses; that water can be purified and reused to recharge groundwater, for example).
So, stakeholders from across the water community and across the political aisle worked together over the last two years to propose a solution that would allow existing agricultural lands pumping groundwater to convert to lower water use development.
Why did Audubon support the bill?
Audubon Southwest monitored and engaged in the conversation on the Ag to Urban concept, from its inception at the Governor’s Water Policy Council, where I maintain a seat at the table, through the passage of the legislation. Audubon Southwest supported the policy framework from the Governor’s Water Policy Council and submitted a letter in March 2025 to the Arizona Department of Water Resources when they were soliciting feedback. Then, as the Ag to Urban idea evolved in the legislative process, Audubon engaged with legislators and supported the final negotiated version—one that upheld the Groundwater Management Act, saved groundwater over time, pushed housing growth to be more water-wise, and encouraged development to occur in “Designated Providers” (water providers that can prove they have a 100-year supply for water for all uses within their boundaries).
Under the Ag to Urban program included in Senate Bill 1611, agricultural groundwater users can voluntarily retire their pumping rights in exchange for Groundwater Savings Credits that can be used for lower water use development and applied towards the physical availability requirement of the 100-year Assured Water Supply Program for Designated Providers (a hallmark of Arizona water management).
In the Phoenix Active Management Area, the Arizona Department of Water Resources conservatively estimates that the Ag to Urban program will save 7.1 million acre-feet of water over 100 years from the program. In the Pinal Active Management Area, the program is expected to save 2.5 million acre-feet over 100 years. By allowing housing development on agricultural lands, groundwater pumping will be reduced as residential homes use less water than agriculture and the water from those homes can be more effectively recycled or used to recharge the aquifer.
The concept improved from last legislative session to include sufficient guardrails to ensure groundwater savings would be achieved over time and that there was no weakening of the Groundwater Management Act, all while allowing for water-wise housing development and encouraging urban development in water provider service areas that have a 100-year water supply.
Furthermore, to increase efficiency and further reduce water use, the legislation prohibits a municipal provider from using groundwater for non-functional grass, waterparks, lakes, ponds, and decorative water features on the retired agricultural acres. Municipalities and Homeowners Associations are prohibited from requiring non-functional grass, waterparks, lakes filled with groundwater, ponds, or decorative water features on those lands.
We are encouraged to see lawmakers come together, working across the aisle and with the Governor, to address this need in our state. It serves as a reminder that we can address difficult water challenges through collaboration, creativity, and compromise in Arizona.
