Gov. Katie Hobbs speaks at the The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Water Resources Reach Center 2024 Annual Conference: Implementing Water Solutions through Partnerships on March 13, 2024.In its current form, Gov. Katie Hobbs said Senate Bill 1221 would allow out-of-state corporations to pump groundwater unchecked, hurting small farms.
“In effect, it sets rural Arizonans up to fail and leaves us with the status quo where out-of-state corporate farmers come from around the world to take advantage of our aquifers and pump unchecked amounts of groundwater while small farmers and local communities get their groundwater sucked out from under them,” she said, speaking at a conference on water solutions at the University of Arizona.
Hobbs said the bill creates a convoluted process that would make it nearly impossible for rural communities to manage their groundwater, essentially silencing them.
The bill passed the Senate on a party-line vote and has yet to be heard in the House.
Hobbs' full speech
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