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A 2023 Water Update for Arizona Contractors and Developers

This summer, as many in the Valley of the Sun have dealt with a remarkably hot summer, developers and contractors were left wondering about the state of the local water supply and what it means for the construction industry...more

A Robust and Diverse Water Portfolio Enables Arizona to Meet the Challenges Ahead

Over the past five weeks, we have described the wide range of water resources available to meet Arizona’s current and future needs.  These resources include groundwater, in-state surface water, Colorado River water, long-term...more

Colorado River Update:  Reclamation Issues FR Notice for Post-2026 Operational Guidelines and Strategies

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has initiated the Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) process for post-2026 operational guidelines and strategies of Lake Powell and Lake Mead. This process is in addition to the Draft...more

Breaking News:  Phoenix AMA Has Abundant Groundwater and Will Still Have Abundant Groundwater in 100 Years

On June 1, 2023, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs revealed the results of a new groundwater model prepared by the Arizona Department of Water Resources (“ADWR”) that predicts the future availability of groundwater for pumping...more

The Rise of Reclaimed Water:  Reuse of Water in Arizona, Already Important, is Primed to Grow Alongside Increasing Scarcity of...

It seems that not a day goes by without another news story bringing Arizona to the forefront of a national dialogue about water security in a time of drought, changing climate, and growing population. This article is Part 6...more

Long Term Storage Credits: Securing Arizona’s Water Future

This article is Part 5 of Snell & Wilmer’s series on Arizona’s water supply and legal framework. So far in this series we have examined the most common and most-used water sources in Arizona’s diverse water portfolio: ...more

The Law of the Colorado River:  An Opportunity for Change

The Department of Interior announced on Monday, May 22, 2023 an agreement with the Lower Basin states to conserve 3 million acre-feet (“MAF”) of water in Lake Mead for the next four years, with 2.3 MAF paid for with funding...more

Arizona’s In-State Surface Water Resources:  Appropriable Water, Used Appropriately, Fosters Economic Development

This article is Part 3 of a series providing information about the resilience of Arizona’s water supplies during a time in which the news is dominated by stories about drought and scarcity. As we noted in Part 1, Arizona has...more

More than Just a Drop in the Bucket, Arizona Groundwater Supplies Pose Problems and Potential Solutions for Policy Makers

While the local and national press inundate us with articles about the dire nature of Arizona’s water supplies and questions about why people are even allowed to live in a desert, careful planning by water leaders over...more

5/9/2023  /  Arizona , Cap-and-Trade , Groundwater , Water

As an Excellent Winter Transitions to an Uncertain Spring, How Secure are Arizona’s Water Supplies?

Arizona’s water supplies have been front page news for months.  Both local and national media have reported on increasingly serious shortages on the Colorado River and the inability of the states that rely on the River to...more

5/2/2023  /  Arizona , Water , Watershed

Biden Administration Considers Interrupting the “Law of the River” Status QuoPrint

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has released its Near-term Colorado River Operations Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, analyzing three paths forward for managing the Colorado River in light of the potentially...more

Basin States Agree to Reduced Colorado River Deliveries

Less than two weeks ago, we wrote that the Department of Interior proposed reducing Colorado River deliveries in 2022 by 480,000 acre-feet and that Assistant Secretary Trujillo had asked the Basin States for comments on this...more

Feds Considering Emergency Reductions to Colorado River Deliveries

In an April 8, 2022 letter to each of the seven Colorado River basin states, the Interior Department asked for comments by April 22 about its plan to reduce releases from Glen Canyon Dam to 7.0 million acre-feet (maf) this...more

Rare Rulemaking Initiated by Arizona Department of Water Resources

The Arizona Department of Water Resources (“ADWR”) announced on September 18, 2021 that it had initiated a rulemaking for three subject areas: licensing timeframes, well construction and licensing, and dam safety. Overall,...more

Reclamation Declares Tier 1 Shortage on Colorado River for 2022

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (“Reclamation”) published its August 2021 24-Month Study on Monday, effectively declaring a shortage on the Colorado River for the Lower Colorado River Basin. The August study predicts that the...more

Colorado River Lower Basin States Face Tier 1 Shortage and Maybe More

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s April 24-Month Study, published this week, as expected, signals a significant likelihood of reduced water deliveries in the Lower Basin of the Colorado River to Arizona, California, and...more

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: AZ Drought Contingency Plan Stakeholders Recruited for Next Phase of Colorado River Work

On Thursday, June 25, 2020, Arizona’s Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan (“LBDCP”) Steering Committee (aka the “Drought Contingency Plan Committee”) is scheduled to reconvene and take on a new name and a new task. The LBDCP...more

Drought and Water Demand Continues in Spite of COVID-19 Pandemic

The demands on government and private water providers to address the declining availability of water resources in the southwest did not get a reprieve, unfortunately, when the COVID-19 virus emerged in February. Last...more

Opportunities for Public Involvement Regarding the Pinal County Active Management Area

We posted very recently about the public’s opportunity to shape water conservation policy in Arizona Active Management Areas (“AMAs”), but there are presently two other opportunities to develop Arizona water policy that the...more

Management Plan Work Group Offers Public Opportunity to Develop Water Policies

Arizona’s 1980 Groundwater Code offers a unique opportunity for the public to get involved in shaping water policy through the process of adopting management plans for the Active Management Areas (“AMAs”). The process is...more

Arizona’s Cultural Resource Review Process Is a Challenge for Public Land Industries

Most businesses that work in a natural resource industry in Arizona are familiar with the requirements of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (“NHPA”), and Arizona’s State Historic Preservation Act (“SHPA”). There...more

Colorado River News is a Mixed Bag: Heavy Snowmelt Can’t Prevent “Tier Zero” Shortage

Every year, Colorado River water users anxiously wait for the results of the Bureau of Reclamation’s (“BOR”) August 24-Month Study Report. While the report is updated and published monthly, the August report is particularly...more

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