A lawsuit brought by two out-of-state investment firms could make it harder for Arizona to protect vulnerable groundwater basins, threatening one of the state’s few tools for safeguarding rural water supplies. The companies, tied to real estate developers in Utah and Nevada, sued after the Arizona Department of Water Resources designated northern Mohave County’s Hualapai groundwater basin an Irrigation Non-Expansion Area in 2022. Under the designation, no new farmland can be irrigated, though existing farms can keep pumping. The investors argue ADWR should have used the state’s standard rulemaking process in creating the INA. A Maricopa County Superior Court judge agreed with the investors in January, rejecting ADWR’s position that state law allows it to use a separate procedure. The agency has appealed. 

Other groundwater news around the West:

• Red Bluff Daily News (Calif.): No new groundwater fees for Tehama County — yet
• FOX40 (Sacramento, Calif.): Is Sacramento Valley sinking? Here’s what a study says
• Arizona Capitol Times (Phoenix): Opinion: Arizona’s water law was built for abundance. Scarcity is exposing it.
• Environmental Defense Fund: Blog: Land Repurposing Workshop connects the dots across a changing landscape