2 members of Gov. Katie Hobbs' water panel quit, saying farmers and ranchers are ignored

Two members of Gov. Katie Hobbs' Water Policy Council resigned Friday, saying the needs of farmers and ranchers are being ignored, but Hobbs' office said their withdrawal will hurt the very people they seek to help.

Representatives of the Arizona Farm Bureau and the Arizona Senate announced their withdrawal from the council Friday in statements released to the public, with a state senator accusing the council of partnering with a liberal environmental group.

The council "is nothing more than a forum to rubberstamp the progressive environmental goals of special interest groups," according to a statement by Senate Majority Whip Sine Kerr, R-Buckeye. "The radical agenda being pushed has the potential to damage our economy and kill the livelihoods of our farmers and ranchers."

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The council's Rural Groundwater Committee, which Kerr sits on, has a "singular intent" of boosting legislation called Local Groundwater Stewardship Areas, which she said is being "pushed by the Environmental Defense Fund."

The nearly 60-year-old nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund boasts 1.5 million members and is typically considered left-leaning.

Yet two conservative Republicans, Sen. Sonny Borrelli, R-Lake Havasu City, and Rep. Leo Biasiucci, R-Lake Havasu City, introduced the legislation this year. Among other provisions, the proposal would have allowed leaders in rural Arizona regions to launch groundwater-preserving programs that are now only seen in the state's Active Management Areas, like preventing construction of new subdivisions unless the director of the state Department of Water Resources determines there's an adequate water supply.

Borrelli would not say whether he would reintroduce the bill this year and would not comment on Kerr's criticism of it. Biasiucci didn't return a phone message. But he did say it is his "duty to protect the natural resources in my district."

Kerr fights 'regulatory overreach'

Hobbs created the Water Policy Council in one of her first executive orders with the goal of modernize the 1980 Arizona Groundwater Management Act. She's made water issues a priority since taking office in January, releasing a state report showing some areas don't have a required 100-year water supply, and in June halted construction permits for some developments that planned to rely solely on groundwater.

The actions come as Arizona continues to suffer from an epic drought that threatens to eliminate hydropower at Glen Canyon Dam and has already resulted in cutbacks in water supplies for Pinal farmers.

Besides pushing "California-style regulatory overreach," Kerr complained in her letter to Hobbs, only two private-sector members of the council represent agriculture out of 34 non-legislative members appointed in May. She lamented what she described as a high level of control on the council's discussions by the Department of Water Resources, which claims is designed with the "clear aim of disenfranchising" agricultural stakeholders. Kerr said that the council has "refused to allow an open discussion of the merits" of an alternative to the stewardship plan she submitted in July.

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Kerr said she'll continue seeking solutions to water problems in her role as a legislator.

Like Kerr, Stefanie Smallhouse, Arizona Farm Bureau president, said in her group's open letter Friday that the council's goals seem "pre-determined" and ignore the requests of farmers and ranchers.

"At best, our priorities have been given very little committee consideration or, at worst, have been totally dismissed," she wrote. "This is unacceptable to our members, farm and ranch families who will undoubtedly be impacted directly and immediately by any rural groundwater regulatory framework."

Smallhouse explained in an interview with The Arizona Republic that the "small things" can't be discussed until basic requests are addressed. One of those is that new regulations must be "driven by a locally elected planning body." There's no sense discussing the powers of a new regulatory body if Water Policy Council members can't agree those new regulators would be elected, she said.

"We've invested a lot of time and offered a lot of input and proposals, and that information has basically been overlooked," she said.

The Bureau invited Hobbs to meet with agricultural stakeholders directly.

Alternatives to 'deepest straw wins'

Hobbs' office, in a statement to The Republic by spokesperson Christian Slater, praised the council's work and said it's been seeking alternatives to Active Management Areas, which put limits on groundwater access, and Irrigation Non-Expansion areas, which restricts irrigation for new farming operations. The office is "disappointed" the members have chosen to leave a "bipartisan process," Slater said, adding that refusing to work with other stakeholders does a "disservice to rural farmers" and deprives them of a voice in the council.

“These alternatives could give communities a greater voice in their local groundwater management and any characterization otherwise is incorrect," Slater said.

Council member Sen. Priya Sundareshen, D-Tucson, said she shares some of the concerns of Kerr and Smallhouse but believes the council is worth continuing. She sits on the council's Assured Water Supply committee, which has not yet agreed to hear some of her own ideas, she said.

Sundareshen, a lawyer and scientist who previously has worked as legal counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund, said she hasn't seen a "progressive" agenda being pushed by anyone at the council but would like to.

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The Environmental Defense Fund has been working with Republicans on the Local Groundwater Stewardship Area because it "transcends our partisan boundaries," she said.

The New York City-based nonprofit has at least nine lobbyists working in Arizona, state records show, including Chris Kuzdas, the group's senior water program manager who is a member of Hobbs' council.

Kevin Moran, the New York City group's vice president for regional affairs, said part of its mission is to find alternatives to the mentality in Arizona that the "deepest straw wins." He criticized the decision by Kerr and the Farm Bureau to leave the council.

"Rural Arizona is asking for practical tools to manage their water supply," he said. "The last thing we need in Arizona is responsible people to walk away from our water problems."

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Reach the reporter at rstern@arizonarepublic.com or 480-276-3237. Follow him on X @raystern.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Gov. Hobbs' Water Policy Council lost 2 members, farmers feel ignored