Attorney General Mayes Recognizes Earth Day, Calls for Stricter Water Oversight

PHOENIX–Attorney General Kris Mayes today recognized the observance of Earth Day, tomorrow April 22 and renewed calls for stricter oversight by state bodies of Arizona’s most precious natural resource – water. In two letters sent earlier this week to the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR), Attorney General Mayes called on the Department to fulfill its statutory duty to conduct periodic reviews of groundwater outside of active management areas and more closely monitor applications for new high capacity, deep-water wells in unregulated areas.
 
"Due to the historic long-term drought facing the state and the growing effects of climate change, Arizona is on the cusp of a water crisis that could have devastating impacts for all Arizonans," said Attorney General Mayes. "For too long, our state leaders have been asleep at the wheel while this crisis has only grown. With new state leadership and the ever-increasing urgency of the issue, now is the time for the state government to get serious about regulating groundwater across Arizona and fulfill existing statutory duties so Arizona as we know it can continue to exist."
 
Attorney General Mayes also pointed to two applications for new deep-water wells on the Butler Valley state trust land leased to Saudi-owned company, Fondomonte. The approval of the drill permits just eight months ago has now been revoked thanks to the Attorney General raising the issue in recent weeks with the Arizona State Land Department and ADWR.
 
“It is unconscionable that as recently as eight months ago, the state of Arizona was approving new deep-water wells designed to pump thousands of gallons of water per-minute out from under La Paz County,” said Attorney General Mayes. “It is long-past time for the state of Arizona to wake up and address this growing crisis head-on before it is too late.”