HB 2101

House Engrossed
supply and demand;
  assessment; groundwater
State of Arizona
House of Representatives
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
HOUSE BILL 2101
AN
ACT
amending section 45-105, Arizona Revised
Statutes; RELATING to the DEPARTMENT of water resources.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 45-105, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE45-105. Powers and duties of director
A. The director may:
1. Formulate plans and develop programs for the
practical and economical development, management, conservation and use of
surface water, groundwater and the watersheds in this state, including the
management of water quantity and quality.
2. Investigate works, plans or proposals pertaining
to surface water and groundwater, including management of watersheds, and
acquire, preserve, publish and disseminate related information the director
deems advisable.
3. Collect and investigate information on and
prepare and devise means and plans for the development, conservation and use of
all waterways, watersheds, surface water, groundwater and groundwater basins in
this state and of all related matters and subjects, including irrigation,
drainage, water quality maintenance, regulation of flow, diversion of running
streams adapted for development in cooperating with the United States or by
this state independently, flood control, use of water power, prevention of soil
waste and storage, conservation and development of water for every useful
purpose.
4. Measure, survey and investigate the water
resources of this state and their potential development and cooperate and
contract with agencies of the United States for such purposes.
5. Acquire, hold and dispose of property, including
land, rights-of-way, water and water rights, as necessary or
convenient for the performance of the groundwater and water quality management
functions of the department.
6. Acquire, other than by condemnation, construct,
improve, maintain and operate early warning systems for flood control purposes
and works for the recovery, storage, treatment and delivery of water.
7. Accept grants, gifts or donations of money or
other property from any source, which may be used for any purpose consistent
with this title. All property acquired by the director is public
property and is subject to the same tax exemptions, rights and privileges
granted to municipalities, public agencies and other public entities.
8. Enter into an interagency contract or agreement
with any public agency pursuant to title 11, chapter 7, article 3 and contract,
act jointly or cooperate with any person to carry out the purposes of this
title.
9. Prosecute and defend all rights, claims and
privileges of this state respecting interstate streams.
10. Initiate and participate in conferences,
conventions or hearings, including congressional hearings, court hearings or
hearings of other competent judicial or quasi-judicial departments,
agencies or organizations, and negotiate and cooperate with agencies of the
United States or of any state or government and represent this state concerning
matters within the department's jurisdiction.
11. Apply for and hold permits and licenses from the
United States or any agency of the United States for reservoirs, dam sites and
rights-of-way.
12. Receive and review all reports, proposed
contracts and agreements from and with the United States or any agencies, other
states or governments or their representatives and recommend to the governor
and the legislature action to be taken on such reports, proposed contracts and
agreements. The director shall take action on such reports, if
authorized by law, and review and coordinate the preparation of formal comments
of this state on both the preliminary and final reports relating to water
resource development of the United States army corps of engineers, the United
States secretary of the interior and the United States secretary of
agriculture, as provided for in the flood control act of 1944 (58 Stat. 887; 33
United States Code section 701-1).
13. Contract with any person for imported water or
for the acquisition of water rights or rights to withdraw, divert or use
surface water or groundwater as necessary for the performance of the
groundwater management functions of the director prescribed by chapter 2 of
this title.� If water becomes available under any contract executed under this
paragraph, the director may contract with any person for its delivery or
exchange for any other water available.
14. Recommend to the administrative heads of
agencies, boards and commissions of this state, and political subdivisions of
this state, rules to promote and protect the rights and interests of this state
and its inhabitants in any matter relating to the surface water and groundwater
in this state.
15. Conduct feasibility studies and remedial
investigations relating to groundwater quality and enter into contracts and
cooperative agreements under section 104 of the comprehensive environmental
response, compensation, and liability act of 1980 (P.L. 96-510) to
conduct such studies and investigations.
16. Dispose informally by stipulation, agreed
settlement, consent order or alternative means of dispute resolution, including
arbitration, if the parties and director agree, or by default of any case in
which a hearing before the director is required or allowed by law.
17. Cooperate and coordinate with the appropriate
governmental entities in Mexico regarding water planning in areas near the
border between Mexico and Arizona and for the exchange of relevant hydrological
information.
B. The director
shall:
1. Exercise and
perform all powers and duties vested in or imposed on the department and adopt
and issue rules necessary to carry out the purposes of this title.
2. Administer all laws relating to groundwater, as
provided in this title.
3. Be responsible for the supervision and control of
reservoirs and dams of this state and, when deemed necessary, conduct
investigations to determine whether the existing or anticipated condition of
any dam or reservoir in this state is or may become a menace to life and
property.
4. Coordinate and confer with and may contract with:
(a) The Arizona power authority, the game and fish
commission, the state land department, the Arizona outdoor recreation
coordinating commission, the Arizona commerce authority, the department of
health services, active management area water authorities or districts and
political subdivisions of this state with respect to matters within their
jurisdiction relating to surface water and groundwater and the development of
state water plans.
(b) The department of environmental quality with
respect to title 49, chapter 2 for its assistance in the development of state
water plans.
(c) The department of environmental quality
regarding water plans, water resource planning, water management, wells, water
rights and permits, and other appropriate provisions of this title pertaining
to remedial investigations, feasibility studies, site prioritization, selection
of remedies and implementation of the water quality assurance revolving fund
program pursuant to title 49, chapter 2, article 5.
(d) The department of environmental quality
regarding coordination of databases that are necessary for activities conducted
pursuant to title 49, chapter 2, article 5.
5. Cooperate with the Arizona power authority in the
performance of the duties and functions of the authority.
6. Maintain a permanent public depository for
existing and future records of stream flow, groundwater levels and water
quality and other data relating to surface water and groundwater.
7. Maintain a public docket of all matters before
the department that may be subject to judicial review pursuant to this title.
8. Investigate and take appropriate action on any
complaints alleging withdrawals, diversions, impoundments or uses of surface
water or groundwater that may violate this title or the rules adopted pursuant
to this title.
9. Adopt an official seal for the authentication of
records, orders, rules and other official documents and actions.
10. Provide staff support to the Arizona water
protection fund commission established by chapter 12 of this title.
11. Exercise and perform all powers and duties
invested in the chairperson of the Arizona water banking authority commission
as prescribed by chapter 14 of this title.
12. Provide staff support to the Arizona water
banking authority established by chapter 14 of this title.
13. In the year following each regular general
election, present information to the committees with jurisdiction over water
issues in the house of representatives and the senate.� A written report is not
required but the presentation shall include information concerning the
following:
(a) The current status of the water supply in this
state and any likely changes in that status.
(b) Issues of regional and local drought effects,
short-term and long-term drought management efforts and the
adequacy of drought preparation throughout the state.
(c) The status of current water conservation
programs in this state.
(d) The current state of each active management area
and the level of progress toward management goals in each active management
area.
(e) Issues affecting management of the Colorado
River and the reliability of this state's two million eight hundred thousand
acre-foot allocation of Colorado River water, including the status of
water supplies in and issues related to the Colorado River basin states and
Mexico.
(f) The status of any pending or likely litigation
regarding surface water adjudications or other water-related litigation
and the potential impacts on this state's water supplies.
(g) The status of Indian water rights settlements
and related negotiations that affect this state.
(h) Other matters related to the reliability of this
state's water supplies, the responsibilities of the department and the adequacy
of the department's and other entities' resources to meet this state's water
management needs.
14. Not later than December 1, 2023
and On or before December 1 of each year thereafter,
prepare and issue a water supply and demand assessment for at least six of the
fifty-one groundwater basins established pursuant to section 45-403. The
director shall ensure that a water supply and demand assessment is completed
for all groundwater basins and initial active management areas at least once
every five years. The director may contract with outside entities to
perform some or all of the assessments and those outside entities shall be
identified in the assessment. the director shall
include all of the following in each five-year water supply and demand
ASSESSMENT for each groundwater basin:
(a) The average
depth-to-static level across the groundwater basin at the end of the assessment
period, measured in feet.
(b) The average
net increase or decrease in the average depth-to-static level
across the groundwater basin over each of the five years preceding the end of
the assessment period, measured in feet.
(c) The maximum
depth of bedrock at the deepest point in the groundwater basin, measured in
feet.
(d) The average
depth-to-bedrock level across the groundwater basin, measured in feet.
(e) The total
number of active index wells in the groundwater basin, measured in whole
numbers.
(f) The average
distance between each active index well in the groundwater basin, measured in
miles.
(g) The average
geographic distribution or density of active index wells in the groundwater
basin, measured in number of active index wells per section of land.
(h) The total
estimated volume of groundwater in storage in the groundwater basin to a depth
of one thousand two hundred feet at the end of the assessment period, measured
in acre-feet.
(i) The total
estimated number of years' worth of groundwater available in the groundwater
basin to a depth of one thousand two hundred feet at the current annual average
rate of change in the groundwater basin, measured in years.
(j) The total
number of active and passive stormwater and groundwater recharge projects in
the groundwater basin, measured in whole numbers.
(k) The total
volume of increased groundwater recharged in the groundwater basin due to
active and passive stormwater and groundwater recharge projects in the
groundwater basin in each of the five years preceding the end of the assessment
period, measured in acre-feet. END_STATUTE