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Arizona Water Laws Explained: AMAs, 100-Year Supply & Homebuyers

[00:00:00] So Arizona is known for being dry. Duh, it's a desert. So you might assume that the state has one strict set of water rules that apply everywhere. It doesn't. Arizona water laws depend heavily on where the water is located, where it comes from, and how it will be used. And that is why you can hear that Arizona requires a hundred-year water supply for new developments, and then hear about homes being built in rural areas where groundwater pumping is much less restricted.

Both statements can contain some truth Let's make some sense of that. Arizona uses four water sources, groundwater, Colorado River, other rivers and streams within Arizona, including the Verde River, which is here in the Verde [00:01:00] Valley, and reclaimed water. Statewide figures, and again, I'm gonna read some of this because I want the information to be accurate, not just me winging it off the top of my head, okay?

Statewide figures often cited by Arizona water researchers estimate that approximately 41% of Arizona's water comes from groundwater, again, aquifers, underground. 36% come from the Colorado River, 18% from rivers within the state, and 5% from reclaimed water. These percentages can change from year to year, and they do not describe every community by any means.

So these percentages that I just read can change from year to year, and they do not describe every community. The Verde Valley, for instance, as an example, is far more dependent on local groundwater than many communities served by the Central Arizona Project. [00:02:00] Arizona's most significant groundwater law is the Groundwater Management Act of 1980, so not even that long ago.

It created the Active Management Areas, commonly called AMAs, in parts of the state where groundwater supplies required stronger management. Arizona now has eight AMAs, including Phoenix, Prescott, and Tucson. Their, their water, city water, is very controlled. Inside an AMA, groundwater pumping and water use are much more, much more closely regulated.

Large users may have reporting requirements, conservation targets, or annual water allotments, meaning you can't just hook up and use whatever you want. You gotta be accountable. New subdivisions within an AMA generally must demonstrate an assured water supply. That involves showing that water will be legally and [00:03:00] physically and continuously available for at least a hundred years, along with meeting water quality and financial requirements.

Most of the Verde Valley is not inside an active management area. Now, I'm gonna just say something here. Water rights are like you, you came here, your family came as a pioneer, and they have land, acres and acres and acres, thousands of acres. Under that dirt is w- aquifers. And so water rights, if you want to build as a subdivider, as a developer, on some of that land You have to pay big bucks for the water rights to use the water on that land.

So water rights are big money here in Arizona, just so you know. If you happen to be fortunate enough and blessed enough to have been here at the beginning of time and in the [00:04:00] right place, the right time, whatever, you could be sitting on some serious money with water rights. Anyway, so outside an AMA, again, most of the Verde Valley is not in an AMA, but outside an AMA, Arizona has an adequate water supply program for subdivisions, and that sounds similar to the assured water supply, but it's not identical.

In many areas outside an AMA, the finding may provide information to buyers without necessarily stopping a subdivision from moving forward. Local governments may choose stronger requirements. Clarkdale, for example, elected to become a mandatory adequacy jurisdiction, meaning their, their water requirements are pretty strict.

The distinction matters because the phase 100-year water supply is sometimes used as if it were a guarantee. It's not. I always laugh when I hear that. I'm like, "Really? [00:05:00] How can you really guarantee a 100-year water supply other than based on history that water has been here?" But stuff shifts, so it's a technical and regulatory determination based on available data, models, legal access, projected demand, and certain assumptions.

It also doesn't mean that every individual well in the surrounding area is guaranteed to operate for 100 years, so they may have a well that goes dry, and now they're gonna d- dig a different well. Arizona manages water in several additional ways. Surface water is governed through a water system of water rights.

The Colorado River water is divided among states, tribes, and water users through federal law, court decisions, interstate agreements, and contracts, so everybody just can't tap into the Colorado River and use as much as they want. It's interesting Nothing is shared. [00:06:00] Cities and water companies manage their own water portfolios, wells, rates, and conservation programs.

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality regulates drinking water and the treatment and reuse of wastewater. So even in the cities, water's tested on an annual basis, and they are to share the results of that to public. Arizona also stores water underground through recharge projects and has increasingly treated reclaimed water as a usable resource instead of waste.

I like that. Reuse, repurpose, don't waste water. I think of the movie Du- Dune. Du- Dune, D-U-N-E. They had no water, and I don't wanna be a Dune, D-U-N-E. You can go watch the movie. It's pretty horrific, but I don't wanna do that. I don't wanna be living like that. Gotta repurpose my own sweat. There you go. Anyway, go watch the movie.

So this is especially [00:07:00] important in rural Arizona. In areas outside an AMA, groundwater regulations have historically been much less restrictive. New AMAs in place, such as Wilcox, demonstrate that the state can increase oversight when wa- groundwater conditions become serious, but that generally happens basin by basin.

So what does that mean to someone buying a home here? First, don't rely on the general statement that Arizona protects its water, or the other extreme is that Arizona has no water. Neither is completely accurate, okay? Ask specific the following questions. Who supplies water to this property? Is the property inside or outside an AMA?

Is it part of a subdivision? What water supply determination was made for that subdivision? Especially new ones. The existing s- ones that have been around forever, that's sort of not relevant anymore, but there's a lot [00:08:00] of new subdivisions going on, and that would be a very important question. Is the home serviced by a public system, private company, or a well?

Are there water hauling arrangements? Back to the water hauling that I have to talk about in another video. It's a whole thing. That could be a long video for sure. Are there known problems with nearby wells? And what conservation or drought policies does the provider have? Arizona has decades of experience managing water, storing it, and using reclaimed water, but the strength of these protections varies considerably by location.

That is the point I want relocating buyers to remember. What you hear for Phoenix doesn't-- it's not relevant for the Verde Valley. What you hear about Tucson isn't relevant for Phoenix. What you hear about Flagstaff is not relevant for the Verde Valley. So the questions have to be specific to the area you're wanting [00:09:00] to buy, okay?

Don't ask, "Does Arizona have enough water?" Ask, "What is the water situation for this particular community and this particular property?" So if you are considering moving to Cottonwood or another of our beautiful Verde Valley communities, please send me the area you're interested in and I can help you determine what water questions should be part of your due diligence.

Comment, click the link below for the relocation guide, and have a wonderful day, and God bless