The proposed bill introduces a new Article 13 to the Arizona Revised Statutes, which pertains to the groundwater code. It allows individuals with grandfathered rights to groundwater in the Phoenix, Tucson, or Pinal active management areas to sell, lease, or convey portions of their right to pump groundwater or the groundwater itself within the same subbasin. The bill specifies that 65% of the groundwater rights can be transferred in a transaction, while 35% of the original right must remain unused or unpumped. It also exempts the transferred groundwater from replenishment obligations and includes provisions for how the groundwater is to be accounted for in water modeling and applications for certificates of assured water supply.

Additionally, the bill requires sellers or lessors to notify the department of various details of the transaction, including the parties involved, the duration of the lease, the amount of groundwater transferred, and the price per acre-foot. The department may prescribe a form for this notice, and parties can update the information provided at any time. The bill also mandates the establishment and maintenance of an online water exchange on the department's website to publicly display information about groundwater transactions.

Statutes affected:
Introduced Version: 45-558, 3-201