For Immediate Release
May 9, 2016
Contact: Sandy Bahr, Sierra Club | 602-253-8633 | 602-999-5790 (cell)
Sierra Club Applauds Vetoes of Harmful Water Legislation.
Phoenix, AZ – Today, Governor Ducey vetoed both SB1268 and SB1400, two bills that would have weakened important water adequacy requirements. Sierra Club and conservation groups across the state, as well as many water experts, had worked hard to try and stop these bills in the Arizona Legislature and had requested a veto in letters to the Governor (see attached).
“We applaud the Governor’s vetoes of these harmful water bills,” said Sandy Bahr, chapter director for Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon (Arizona) Chapter. “Both bills would have taken Arizona a step backwards relative to water planning and further risked our remaining flowing rivers, as well as the people and economies that depend on them. As the Governor noted in his State of the State address and other speeches, we need to build on past water planning efforts, not weaken them.”
SB1268 adequate water supply requirements; municipalities would have allowed cities and towns to opt out of county ordinances requiring a proposed subdivision that is located outside of an Active Management Area (AMA) to demonstrate an adequate water supply before the final plat for the subdivision can be approved.
SB1400 NOW: adequate water supply requirement; renewal required a county Board of Supervisors to review the county adequate water supply provisions every five years and to rescind the provision by a unanimous vote of the Board of Supervisors. It requires a unanimous vote of the BOS to adopt these in the first place, which is why only two counties – Cochise and Yuma – have done so. While this was not as bad as the original version of the bill, it still would have weakened water adequacy provisions as Cochise County looked to eliminate the provisions and allow more unsustainable development that would harm the San Pedro River.
“Both SB1268 and SB1400 created loopholes for special interests to avoid complying with important requirements for water adequacy and put at risk the health of our aquifers, streams, rivers, and springs,” said Bahr. “Now that these harmful bills are off the table, we must push harder for stronger protections for Arizona’s waters. We encourage the Governor to help take Arizona in that direction.”
Instead of allowing opt-outs and ways to go backwards and eliminate water adequacy requirements, the Arizona Legislature should make it easier for counties to adopt county ordinances that protect homeowners and Arizona’s limited water supply. This could be achieved, in part, by eliminating the current statutory requirement that any adequate water supply mandate be approved by the county board of supervisors unanimously. Better yet, the Arizona Legislature could require that every subdivision in Arizona demonstrate an adequate or assured water supply.
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