45-566

45-566. Management plan for third management
period; guidelines

A. For the third management period, 2000 to 2010, the director shall promulgate a
management plan for each initial active management area not later than January 1,
1998. The director:

1. Except as provided in section 45-411.01, subsection A and section 45-563.02,
subsection B, shall establish in each plan a new irrigation water duty for each farm unit
to be reached by the end of the third management period and may establish one or more
intermediate water duties to be reached at specified intervals during the third
management period. Except as provided in subsection D of this section, the irrigation
water duty or intermediate water duties for the third management period shall be
calculated as the quantity of water reasonably required to irrigate the crops
historically grown in the farm unit and shall be computed by dividing the total
irrigation requirement per acre of those crops by an irrigation efficiency of eighty per
cent, except that a lower irrigation efficiency may be used for a farm unit or portion of
a farm unit determined by the director to have limiting soils or excessive slopes and for
a farm unit where orchard crops were historically grown and continue to be grown. After
computing the irrigation water duty or intermediate water duties for the third management
period, the director may adjust the highest twenty-five per cent of the water duties
within an area of similar farming conditions by reducing each water duty in an amount up
to ten per cent, except that in making the adjustment, no water duty may be reduced to an
amount less than the greater of the following:

(a) The highest water duty within the lowest seventy-five per cent of the water
duties computed within the area of similar farming conditions for the third management
period.

(b) A water duty computed for the farm unit under this paragraph using an
irrigation efficiency of eighty per cent.

2. Shall establish in each plan, except the plan for the Santa Cruz active
management area, additional conservation requirements for all non-irrigation uses of
groundwater to be achieved by the end of the third management period and may establish
intermediate conservation requirements to be achieved at specified intervals during the
third management period. In the plan for the Santa Cruz active management area, the
director shall establish additional conservation requirements for all non-irrigation uses
of water, other than stored water, withdrawn from a well to be achieved by the end of the
third management period and may establish intermediate conservation requirements to be
achieved at specified intervals during the third management period. For municipal uses,
except as provided in section 45-566.01 and paragraphs 3 and 4 of this subsection, the
program in each plan shall require additional reasonable reductions in per capita use to
those required in the second management period and use of such other conservation
measures as may be appropriate for individual users. For industrial uses, including
industrial uses within the exterior boundaries of the service area of a city, town,
private water company or irrigation district, the program in each plan shall require the
use of or establish conservation requirements based on the use of the latest commercially
available conservation technology consistent with reasonable economic return.

3. Shall establish in each plan conservation or rate of use requirements for
deliveries of untreated water by large untreated water providers based on the use of the
latest commercially available conservation technology consistent with reasonable economic
return.

4. Shall establish in each plan reasonable conservation requirements for small
municipal providers.

5. Except as provided in section 45-411.01, subsection B, shall establish in each
plan, except the plan for the Santa Cruz active management area, additional economically
reasonable conservation requirements for the distribution of groundwater by cities,
towns, private water companies and irrigation districts within their service areas. In
the plan for the Santa Cruz active management area, the director shall establish
additional economically reasonable conservation requirements for the distribution of
water, other than stored water, withdrawn from wells, for cities, towns, private water
companies and irrigation districts within their service areas.

6. Shall include in each plan a program for additional augmentation of the water
supply of the active management area, if feasible, including incentives for artificial
groundwater recharge.

7. Shall, in cooperation with the department of environmental quality, include in
each plan an assessment of groundwater quality in the active management area and any
proposed program for groundwater quality protection. Any such program shall be submitted
to the legislature for any necessary enabling legislation or coordination with existing
programs of the department of environmental quality.

8. Shall include in each plan a program for conservation assistance to water users
within the active management area.

9. May include in each plan a program for the purchase and retirement of
grandfathered rights by the department to begin no earlier than January 1, 2006.

10. Shall establish in the plan for an active management area in which a groundwater
replenishment district is located the historic annual net natural recharge for the
groundwater replenishment district, computed by determining the net natural recharge, as
defined by section 48-4401, for the groundwater basin beneath the district during
calendar years 1967 through 1996 and dividing the result by thirty.

11. Shall include in the plan for the Santa Cruz active management area criteria for
the location of new wells and replacement wells in new locations consistent with the
management goal of the active management area.

12. Shall include in the plan for the Santa Cruz active management area an
evaluation of the potential impact of the plan on the Tucson active management area.

13. Shall include in the plans for the Tucson, Phoenix and Pinal active management
areas recommendations to the Arizona water banking authority regarding all of the
following:

(a) Whether additional water storage in the active management area would help to
achieve the management goal for the active management area.

(b) Where additional water storage in the active management area would be most
useful to achieve the management goal for the active management area.

(c) Whether extinguishment of long-term storage credits accrued or to be accrued by
the Arizona water banking authority would help to achieve the management goal for the
active management area.

B. Within thirty days after the management plan for the third management period is
adopted, the director shall give written notice in the manner and to the persons
prescribed in section 45-565, subsection B. Two years before the compliance date
specified in the management plan for any irrigation water duty, intermediate water duty,
conservation requirement or intermediate conservation requirement, the director shall
give additional written notice by first class mail to the last known addresses of the
persons prescribed in section 45-565, subsection B.

C. Except for a person who has obtained a variance under section 45-574 or who is
exempt from irrigation water duties under section 45-563.02, subsection A, all persons
notified pursuant to subsection B of this section shall comply with the applicable
irrigation water duty or conservation requirements for the third management period not
later than January 1, 2010 and shall remain in compliance until the compliance date for
any applicable irrigation water duty or conservation requirements established in the
management plan for the fourth management period. If intermediate water duties or
intermediate conservation requirements have been established, a person to whom those
water duties or conservation requirements apply shall comply with the intermediate water
duties or conservation requirements not later than the compliance date specified in the
management plan unless the person obtains a variance pursuant to section 45-574 or is
exempt from intermediate water duties under section 45-563.02, subsection A. A person
who obtains a variance under section 45-574 shall comply with the applicable irrigation
water duty or conservation requirements by the date specified in the variance and shall
remain in compliance until the subsequent compliance date for any applicable irrigation
water duty or conservation requirements established in the management plan for the third
management period or, if that management plan does not establish any applicable
subsequent compliance date, until the applicable compliance date established in the
management plan for the fourth management period.

D. A person who is entitled to use groundwater pursuant to an irrigation
grandfathered right may apply to the director at any time during the management period
for an exemption from the irrigation water duties established pursuant to subsection A,
paragraph 1 of this section. The director shall grant the exemption if the person
demonstrates to the director's satisfaction that granting the exemption is consistent
with achieving the management goal of the active management area and that one of the
following applies:

1. Withdrawal of groundwater pursuant to the irrigation grandfathered right during
the management period will intercept the groundwater that would otherwise flow out of and
be lost to the active management area within the next fifteen years without entering
another active management area.

2. Withdrawal of groundwater pursuant to the irrigation grandfathered right during
the management period will prevent encroachment of a rising depth to groundwater level
that will cause waterlogging problems within the next fifteen years.