A special study group of the Groundwater Management Study Commission has presented concepts for agreement for groundwater law reform in Arizona. The study group consisted of Governor Babbitt and Senator Stan Turley and representatives from Arizona's mining, agricultural and municipal interests. On March 6, 1980, the entire Groundwater Management Study Commission voted to have the concepts for agreement drafted into legislation.

The Southern Arizona Water Rights Settlement Act was vetoed by President Reagan this past June, cancelling seven years of negotiations between the Papago Indian Tribe and a diverse array of competing water users. The President cited what he considered a serious flaw in the process: the federal government had not been a party to the negotiations, yet would bear most of the financial burden of the settlement.

Regulations for spacing new water wells in the state's AMAS have been adopted by the Department of Water Resources (DWR). These regulations, required by the 1980 Groundwater Management Act, apply to wells within AMAs that will pump more than 35 gallons per minute (gpm).

Agriculture is an important part of Arizona's history, its culture and its economy. We should not sacrifice agriculture to urban growth and industrialization. Rather, we should strive to use the rapid changes and pressures on agriculture to encourage technological change and economic development in agriculture."

Citing Governor Bruce Babbitt's proclamation declaring December "Flood Awareness Month," Wesley Steiner, Department of Water Resources Director, and Charles Ott, Director of the Division of Emergency Services, have urged Arizonans to be aware of possible flood hazards and to take advantage of the National Flood Insurance Program. The program was established by Congress to enable property owners to purchase flood insurance at reasonable rates. Policies are available through any Arizona licensed insurance agent or broker.

An oversight hearing on the Central Arizona Project (CAP) Tucson Aqueduct was held March 13 in Tucson by a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, the Subcommittee on Water and Power Resources. Testimony was received concerning the size and the terminus location of the aqueduct and on the Papago Indian water entitlement. About 30 witnesses were heard, including Governor Bruce Babbitt, U.S. Senator Dennis DeConcini, Tucson Mayor Lew Murphy, and a broad range of water users in the area.

The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 requires an inventory of hazardous mining areas within each state and periodic monitoring of active mines. In 1979 the Office of Surface Mining contracted with the University of Arizona Applied Remote Sensing Program (ARSPL Office of Arid Lands Studies, and the Mining and Geological Engineering Department for an evaluation of Landsat as a means for meeting these requirements. The objectives were to inventory mining activity in Arizona, where there are 41 active surface mines, and develop a mine monitoring system, delineate mined lands with high hazard potentials, and develop a training package for state agency personnel.

The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) is developing an Underground Injection Control (UIC) program to regulate the underground disposal of wastes via injection wells. The program will be initiated in February, 1982, after promulgation of the state UIC regulations.

Groundwater withdrawals in Arizona in 1978 and 1979 were, with one exception, the smallest in over twenty-five years. According to a recent U.S. Geological Survey report prepared in cooperation with the Arizona Department of Water Resources, about 4.0 million acrefeet of groundwater was withdrawn in Arizona in 1979, which is about 200,000 acre-feet less than the amount withdrawn in 1978. The withdrawals in 1978 and 1979 are the smallest since the mid-1950's, with the exception of 1966.

A design for developing a comprehensive groundwater quality management program was outlined recently in an article* by Raymond G. Giese, hydrologist with the Ground Water Protection Section of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). His design "represents a compilation of ideas from states that are currently developing groundwater programs."