Groundwater Management Act requires AMAs and 100-year supply for Phoenix providers

Laura Van Lyth, volunteer coordinator and water resource specialist for the City of Phoenix, explained Arizona's Groundwater Management Act and how Active Management Areas (AMAs) regulate groundwater use. She said AMAs restrict groundwater pumping and that providers within the Phoenix AMA must demonstrate a 100-year water supply.

Van Lyth listed the seven AMAs she named in the lesson: Prescott, Phoenix, Pinal, Tucson, Santa Cruz, Douglas and Wilcox, and said that "this is super important in Phoenix, because water providers within the Phoenix AMA must demonstrate a hundred year water supply." She added that irrigation non-expansion areas also impose some groundwater regulation in other parts of the state.

The trainer emphasized the City of Phoenix's role: Van Lyth said the City of Phoenix water utility is a designated assured water supplier and that designation means the city "has guaranteed a hundred years of water supply to meet the current needs and projected needs of customer demands." The lesson did not include a formal regulatory action; it provided an overview of the statutory framework and local obligations under state law.