A. The director of environmental quality, with the advice and cooperation of the Arizona department of agriculture and the director of water resources when appropriate, shall conduct ongoing monitoring of the waters of the state including the state’s WOTUS and aquifers to detect the presence of new and existing pollutants, determine compliance with applicable water quality standards, determine the effectiveness of best management practices, agricultural best management practices and best available demonstrated control technologies, evaluate the effects of pollutants on public health or the environment and determine water quality trends.

Terms Used In Arizona Laws 49-225

  • Best management practices: means those methods, measures or practices to prevent or reduce discharges and includes structural and nonstructural controls and operation and maintenance procedures. See Arizona Laws 49-201
  • Department: means the department of environmental quality. See Arizona Laws 49-201
  • Director: means the director of environmental quality or the director's designee. See Arizona Laws 49-201
  • Environment: means WOTUS, any other surface waters, groundwater, drinking water supply, land surface or subsurface strata or ambient air, within or bordering on this state. See Arizona Laws 49-201
  • including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
  • Standards: means water quality standards, pretreatment standards and toxicity standards established pursuant to this chapter. See Arizona Laws 49-201
  • Waters of the state: means all waters within the jurisdiction of this state including all perennial or intermittent streams, lakes, ponds, impounding reservoirs, marshes, watercourses, waterways, wells, aquifers, springs, irrigation systems, drainage systems and other bodies or accumulations of surface, underground, natural, artificial, public or private water situated wholly or partly in or bordering on the state. See Arizona Laws 49-201
  • WOTUS: means waters of the state that are also navigable waters as defined by section 502(7) of the clean water act. See Arizona Laws 49-201

B. The director shall maintain a statewide database of groundwater and soils sampled for pollutants. All agencies shall submit to the director, in a timely manner, the results of any groundwater or soils sampling for pollutants and the results of any groundwater or soils sampling that detect any pollutants.

C. The director shall establish minimum requirements and schedules for groundwater and soils sampling that will ensure precise and accurate results. The requirements shall be distributed to all agencies that conduct sampling. All sampling conducted shall meet the minimum requirements established pursuant to this subsection.