A decade after Arizona rejected local farmers’ effort to rein in agricultural development they feared would drain the San Simon Valley’s groundwater supply, applications for large-scale wells have surged, and the region’s already strained aquifer is being depleted faster than it can recover. Since farmers first petitioned the state for groundwater protections in 2015, landowners or companies tied to them have submitted 154 applications for high-capacity wells in the southeastern Arizona sub-basin. … Water officials estimate the sub-basin is losing about 50,000 acre-feet more groundwater than is naturally replenished each year. … Now, local farmers are trying again to protect what’s left of San Simon’s groundwater supply. In September, the Arizona Department of Water Resources formally acknowledged their petition for an Irrigation Non-Expansion Area, or INA, opening the door to a permanent ban on irrigating new farmland.

Other groundwater news:

• The Colorado Sun (Denver): Crucial San Luis Valley aquifer drops to record low as water court ponders competing solutions
• SJV Water (Bakersfield, Calif.): Tule Trust seeks input from small farmers looking to expand
• SJV Water (Bakersfield, Calif.): Public demands greater transparency, desert groundwater board approves budget