Vote YES for Active Management Areas in the Willcox and Douglas Groundwater Basins (Propositions 420 & 422) on November 8, 2022. Our only option for saving groundwater for future generations. 

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Many of you have noticed the new pivots irrigating new crops and the enormous new orchards in the Sulphur Springs Valley. These are the farms of industrial growers, most from out of state. They can exploit our groundwater resources because our area has weak water rules and no plans to keep groundwater pumping reasonable. 

 

Industrial agriculture can pump as much as they want as fast as they can. This excessive pumping is lowering the water table, harming local communities, businesses, and residents by causing fissures to open up and wells to run dry. We are forced to choose between paying tens of thousands of dollars to deepen our wells (which may need to be drilled deeper again in the future), or abandoning our homes, farms, and businesses.

 

In Active Management Areas (AMAs), the Arizona Department of Water Resources monitors and manages the groundwater consumption of large-scale users, with input from the affected community and from a Groundwater Users Advisory Council appointed by the governor. Eighty-two percent of the state’s population already lives within AMAs created through the passage of the Arizona Groundwater Management Act of 1980.

 

In AMAs, only high-production wells are monitored and subject to reasonable groundwater use limitations or best management practices. Exempt wells, such as residential wells pumping 35 gallons per minute or less are generally not required to meter or report water use and are not managed under an AMA.

 

In an ongoing drought, the water in our aquifer will not be replaced any time soon. We need to keep water accessible for everybody, not just those who can afford to drill deep and pump fast. Vote YES for Proposition 420 or 422 depending on the groundwater basin you reside in. 

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Are you registered to vote at your current address?

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• Register &/or check your voter registration status online: https://servicearizona.com/VoterRegistration

• or in person: 1415 Melody Lane, Bisbee AZ, in The Recorders Office, Building B

 

The deadline to register to vote is October 11th

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