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"Because That's Where the Water Is": Retiring Current Water Uses to Achieve the Safe-Yield Objective of the Arizona Groundwater Management Act

Abstract

The objective of, the 1980 Arizona Groundwater-Management Act was "safe-yield," an equilibrium between groundwater withdrawal and recharge. Professor Glennon's review of experience under the Act demonstrates that the safe-yield objective will not be achieved without retiring some current water uses. Agricultural irrigation accounts for eighty-five percent of Arizona's water use yet, as Professor Glennon's history demonstrates, changes in the state's economy have resulted in a relative decline in the role of agriculture so that agriculture now contributes only one to two percent to the state's economy. Professor Glennon proposes to reduce irrigation by requiring new development to purchase and retire existing water rights. His proposal offers a case study of how a state might encourage a market system of water rights.

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33 Ariz. L. Rev. 89 (1991)

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Authors

Robert Jerome Glennon (University of Arizona)

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