Supporting water policies and management that help Arizona sooner, rather than later.
While water is always a big issue in Arizona, a lot happened last year in particular:
All these factors play into 2023, where Audubon and our partners will be hard at work pursuing more options for groundwater management for rural Arizona, which will ultimately help communities plan for their future and protect rivers, streams, and habitat for birds like the Yellow-breasted Chat and the Vermilion Flycatcher. And we will work to ensure state agencies have the resources they need to do their jobs: conserving and protecting Arizona’s lands and waters.
Audubon’s Top Priorities for the Arizona Legislature in 2023 | Audubon
While water is always a big issue in Arizona, a lot happened last year in particular:
- A Tier 1 shortage was declared on the Colorado River
- State lawmakers put $440 million towards water infrastructure and water conservation projects, plus they established a new Water Infrastructure Finance Authority and Board to govern this new funding
- The first Active Management Area in more than 40 years was formed by citizens’ ballot initiative in Cochise County in southern Arizona
- An Irrigation Non-expansion Area was established in Mohave County in northwestern Arizona
- Arizonans elected Governor Katie Hobbs to be our next head of state, who, in her State of the State address, made water a top priority
All these factors play into 2023, where Audubon and our partners will be hard at work pursuing more options for groundwater management for rural Arizona, which will ultimately help communities plan for their future and protect rivers, streams, and habitat for birds like the Yellow-breasted Chat and the Vermilion Flycatcher. And we will work to ensure state agencies have the resources they need to do their jobs: conserving and protecting Arizona’s lands and waters.
Audubon’s Top Priorities for the Arizona Legislature in 2023 | Audubon