Arizona Legislature addresses water issues
UPDATE: The Arizona Department of Water Resources reached out to News 11 following our reporting.
In an email they sent to us, they said:
"ADWR is not recommending a 'water tax' of any percentage. Opponents have opted to characterize a proposed requirement that some new homebuilding include a certain percentage of renewable water supplies (25-33 percent figures have been discussed) as a 'tax.' It is not a tax. As it stands now, new homebuilding projects in the Phoenix Active Management Area that do not yet have a guaranteed 100-year water supply would be required to secure a water supply that is 100 percent renewable. We are working with the homebuilding industry and lawmakers to find a way to temporarily reduce that 100 percent requirement to about 25 percent. We believe that in the long run, such a compromise would save considerable supplies of groundwater. Discussions are ongoing, of course."
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - The Arizona Legislature passed a nonbinding resolution Wednesday morning regarding water rules.
The Arizona Department of Water Resources proposed a tax of 25-33% as part of a new proposal to find alternative water supplies. They say the new rule would help conserve water.
"When asked specifically how the department arrived at the 25% figure, the department stated that it was 'guidance given by the governor to quote find an oath forward for sustainable growth,'" said Arizona Representative Tim Dunn.
However, several state legislators and the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona challenged the idea, saying that the water proposal would create a financial burden for home builders and buyers.
"They didn't examine the costs that it would have. So the things that you're supposed to do when you want a new rule about costs, about the justification for it, all those things, in our opinion, they didn't do. And so it's unlawful," said attorney Andrew Gould with the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona.
All members of the legislature adopted a resolution in opposition of the proposal.
