"The Arizona Legislature has taken up a range of water-related measures this year, but some bills that would strengthen the state’s water rules to protect declining groundwater and desert streams have run into opposition and have failed to move forward.
Republican and Democratic legislators introduced several bills that would establish some groundwater rules in unregulated rural areas where there are no limits on pumping and where water levels are dropping.
Those bills, which were opposed by the agriculture industry and key Republican leaders in the Legislature, haven’t been heard. Similar measures died in the Legislature last year.
Another water proposal that is moving through the Legislature focuses on water quality. A bill that was passed by the House would establish state clean-water rules for some of the streams and wetlands that were left unregulated when the Trump administration rolled back federal protections under the Clean Water Act."
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