PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                         December 20, 2024

CONTACT: Doug MacEachern & Shauna Evans

PHONE: 602.771.8507 or 602.771.8079

ADWR Director finds active management practices in the Willcox Basin are necessary

PHOENIX- The Director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources has determined that the Willcox Groundwater Basin meets the criteria for designation of an Active Management Area (AMA) as set forth in A.R.S. § 45-412(A).

Those criteria include:

• Active management practices are necessary to preserve the existing supply of groundwater – the area’s only dependable water source – for future needs; and
• Land subsidence or fissuring is endangering property or potential groundwater storage capacity.

As a result of careful analysis of data related to hydrologic conditions in the Willcox Basin, the statutory criteria are met.

“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 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 public, the hydrologic conditions in the basin meet the statutory requirements.”

The Willcox Groundwater Basin AMA is the seventh AMA in the state and is the first to be created by a decision of the ADWR Director as authorized in A.R.S. § 45-414. It is the second AMA to be created in the last two years.

The Douglas AMA came into being as a result of a November 8, 2022 vote by the region’s residents. That AMA was designated on December 1, 2022.

The Director’s decision follows a substantial public process, including a public meeting on September 26 to provide information on hydrologic conditions and to answer questions from residents.

Pursuant to A.R.S. § 45-413, the Department then held a public hearing in Willcox on November 22, 2024. At that hearing, the Department presented factual data related to hydrologic conditions in the Basin, including data on water level measurements that the Department collected from monitoring wells in the Basin, land subsidence data, and earth fissure maps and photos.

The Department also received oral comments and evidence at the November public hearing and accepted written comments and evidence. In total, 38 people provided oral comments and evidence. The Department also received 423 written comments and evidence.

The boundaries of the Willcox AMA encompass the entire Willcox Groundwater Basin. The Basin is generally located in the northern Sulfur Springs Valley and is the entire surface watershed area that contributes to Willcox Playa, plus the upper watersheds of Leslie Creek and Rucker Canyon that lie east of the Swisshelm Mountains in the Whitewater Draw watershed.

The only dependable water source in the Basin is groundwater, which is used for agricultural, domestic, and municipal water supply.

Additional information can be found on ADWR’s website at: azwater.gov/ama/willcox-ama

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