MOHAVE COUNTY – The State of Arizona is on the clock to respond to a legal brief formally requesting reversal of the Dec., 2022 protective designation of the Hualapai Ground Water Basin as an Irrigation Non-Expansion Area (INA).
The pleading filed April 15 by Tucson-based Hofmeyr Law requests that Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph P. Mikitish direct the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) to overturn former Director Tom Buschatzke’s Findings, Decision and Final Order that granted Mohave County’s request to designate the INA to prohibit additional groundwater use by expanded agriculture production north of Kingman.
On behalf of agriculture interests, plaintiff attorney Adriane Hofmeyr asserts that the County and City of Kingman were concerned they “might run out of water” for residential, domestic and industrial use and unfairly singled out, and targeted farming consumption to manage the resource.
“Not wanting to limit their own water use, they sought to limit agriculture use only,” Hofmeyr’s briefing said.
The pleading argues that the INA designation was predicated upon erroneous conclusion that the groundwater basin is in significant decline. It contends the finding is faulted by use of modeling data and projected future water use and decline based on history and trends, rather any reliable and certain scientific measurement.
“The Final Order fails to include any data to support groundwater level decline,” the briefing said. “On the contrary, the record shows that groundwater levels are not substantially declining, particularly in the Hualapai subbasin.”
Hofmeyr argues the Buschatzke and ADWR designation of the INA is an abuse of discretion. It asks for Court order reversing the designation, or excluding the Hualapai subbasin from the INA boundary upon belief water is far more abundant there than the lower basin closer to Kingman.
The ADWR has not yet responded to the plaintiff brief, and has until May 15 to do so and argue its case. The reply would likely make some use of previously introduced figures reflecting enormous increases of irrigation and water consumption that fed expanding agricultural operations north of Kingman over the decade preceding implementation of the INA.
Supervisor Travis Lingenfelter applauded Buschatzke and the ADWR for the designation in late 2022.
“Four times more water is coming out of our aquifer than is going in each year,” Lingenfelter said in a county news release. “These rapidly declining groundwater levels pose a threat to public health and the safe supply of groundwater for over 70,000 rural Arizonans.”
Lingenfelter is asking for an INA-related staff report at Monday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. Backup for the item indicates entities withdrawing groundwater from non-exempt wells within the INA were required to final water withdrawal and usage reports with the ADWR, and that the first annual report was due by the end of March, roughly five weeks ago.
That data could be illuminating and helpful, both in the legal arena and court of public opinion.
Once defense counsel replies to the plaintiff brief on behalf of the ADWR, additional attorney back and forth would occur in ongoing pleadings before the dispute could someday result in a civil trial.
Dave Hawkins
