A. In an active management area, a person who owns land from which groundwater was being legally withdrawn and used for a non-irrigation purpose as of the date of the designation of the active management area has the right to withdraw annually:

Terms Used In Arizona Laws 45-464

  • Active management area: means a geographical area that has been designated pursuant to article 2 of this chapter as requiring active management of groundwater or, in the case of the Santa Cruz active management area, active management of any water, other than stored water, withdrawn from a well. See Arizona Laws 45-402
  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Certificate of exemption: means a certificate which was issued by the state land department or Arizona water commission under prior statutory law for the purpose of describing specific uses and amounts of water which could not be enjoined if found to constitute the transfer or transportation of groundwater. See Arizona Laws 45-461
  • Date of the designation of the active management area: means :

    (a) With respect to an initial active management area, June 12, 1980. See Arizona Laws 45-402

  • Department: means the department of water resources. See Arizona Laws 45-101
  • Director: means the director of water resources, who is also the director of the department. See Arizona Laws 45-101
  • Grandfathered right: means a right to withdraw and use groundwater pursuant to article 5 of this chapter based on the fact of lawful withdrawals and use of groundwater before the date of the designation of an active management area. See Arizona Laws 45-402
  • Groundwater: means water under the surface of the earth regardless of the geologic structure in which it is standing or moving. See Arizona Laws 45-101
  • Non-irrigation grandfathered right: means a grandfathered right determined pursuant to section 45-463, 45-464, 45-469 or 45-472. See Arizona Laws 45-402
  • Non-irrigation use: means :

    (a) With respect to areas outside an active management area and with respect to an active management area other than the Santa Cruz active management area, a use of groundwater other than an irrigation use. See Arizona Laws 45-402

  • Owner: means :

    (a) With respect to an irrigation grandfathered right or a type 1 non-irrigation grandfathered right, the owner of the land to which the right is appurtenant. See Arizona Laws 45-461

  • Person: means an individual, public or private corporation, company, partnership, firm, association, society, estate or trust, any other private organization or enterprise, the United States, any state, territory or country or a governmental entity, political subdivision or municipal corporation organized under or subject to the constitution and laws of this state. See Arizona Laws 45-402
  • Private water company: means :

    (a) With respect to areas outside an active management area and with respect to an active management area other than the Santa Cruz active management area, any entity that distributes or sells groundwater, except a political subdivision or an entity that is established pursuant to title 48 and that is not regulated as a public service corporation by the Arizona corporation commission under a certificate of public convenience and necessity. See Arizona Laws 45-402

  • Service area: means :

    (a) With respect to a city or town, the area of land actually being served water, for a non-irrigation use, by the city or town plus:

    (i) Additions to such area that contain an operating distribution system owned by the city or town primarily for the delivery of water for a non-irrigation use. See Arizona Laws 45-402

  • Subsequent active management area: means an active management area established after June 12, 1980 pursuant to article 2 of this chapter. See Arizona Laws 45-402
  • town: means a city or town incorporated or chartered under the constitution and laws of this state. See Arizona Laws 45-402
  • Well: means a man-made opening in the earth through which water may be withdrawn or obtained from beneath the surface of the earth except as provided in Section 45-591. See Arizona Laws 45-402

1. If the person holds a certificate of exemption, the greater of:

(a) The amount of groundwater established in proceedings on the application for certificate of exemption, subject to any modification as a result of a finding on appeal of a factual mistake by the state land department or Arizona water commission in computing the amount of the authorized withdrawal, less the amount of any right obtained by the person pursuant to section 45-463.

(b) The maximum amount of groundwater legally withdrawn from such land and used by the person in any one of the five years preceding the date of the designation of the active management area, less the amount of any right obtained by the person pursuant to section 45-463.

2. If the person does not hold a certificate of exemption, the maximum amount of groundwater legally withdrawn from such land and used by the person withdrawing the groundwater in any one of the five years preceding the date of the designation of the active management area, less the amount of any right obtained pursuant to section 45-463 by the person withdrawing groundwater from such land which has not been subtracted by the person withdrawing the groundwater in calculating the amount of another right pursuant to this section.

B. If the calculation in subsection A of this section results in an amount greater than zero, that amount is a grandfathered right in addition to any right obtained pursuant to section 45-463.

C. For the purposes of this section, "person" includes:

1. A city, town or private water company which owns land outside of the service area of such city, town or private water company from which groundwater was being legally withdrawn for a non-irrigation use as of the date of the designation of the active management area.

2. A city, town or private water company withdrawing groundwater from within its service area pursuant to a certificate of exemption.

3. Any other non-irrigation user.

D. If a person has been using groundwater for less than one year during the twelve months immediately preceding the date of the designation of the active management area, the amount of the grandfathered right pursuant to this section is the annual amount determined by the director to be reasonable for a full year to meet the requirements for a facility owned by such person in existence as of the date of the designation of the active management area.

E. If a person has received a certificate of environmental compatibility pursuant to Title 40, Chapter 2, Article 6.2 for the construction of an electrical generating facility within a subsequent active management area for which expenditures or financial commitments for land acquisition, water development, materials, construction or engineering in excess of five hundred thousand dollars have been made before the date of the notice of the initiation of designation procedures or the call for the election for the area, the amount of the grandfathered right pursuant to this section is the annual amount determined by the director to be reasonable to meet the operational requirements for the facility for a full year.

F. The right to withdraw groundwater pursuant to this section is a non-irrigation grandfathered right not associated with retired irrigated land, or a type 2 non-irrigation grandfathered right.

G. A type 2 non-irrigation grandfathered right may be leased. Except as provided in subsection H of this section, the owner or lessee of a type 2 non-irrigation grandfathered right may withdraw groundwater pursuant to the right only from a location within the same active management area in which the certificate of grandfathered right is issued.

H. Beginning July 1, 1994, the holder of a type 2 non-irrigation grandfathered right issued in the Tucson active management area prior to July 1, 1994, may withdraw groundwater pursuant to the right only from a location within the same active management area in which the well or wells listed on the certificate of grandfathered right on July 1, 1994, are located. If no well is listed on the certificate of grandfathered right on July 1, 1994, the holder of the right may withdraw groundwater pursuant to the right only from a location within the same active management area in which the land from which the originating withdrawals were made is located. For purposes of this subsection, the term "originating withdrawals" means the withdrawals of groundwater on which the issuance of a type 2 non-irrigation grandfathered right was based.

I. If the user of a type 2 non-irrigation grandfathered right is different from the owner of the right, either the owner, or the user of the right on behalf of the owner, may apply for a certificate of grandfathered right pursuant to section 45-476.

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