Arizona has officially designated the Ranegras Plain Groundwater Basin as the state’s eighth Active Management Area (AMA), marking a pivotal step in the state’s effort to rein in unsustainable groundwater use in rural regions.

Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) Director Tom Buschatzke issued his Findings, Decision and Order on January 9, confirming the basin’s severe groundwater decline and associated land subsidence. “The future of residents and businesses depends upon protecting the finite groundwater resources in the Ranegras Plain basin,” Buschatzke said. “This is a critical step in achieving that outcome.”

The designation follows a data-driven process that found groundwater withdrawals in the basin - located in parts of La Paz and Yuma counties—have exceeded natural recharge by approximately 900 percent. In some areas, wells have dropped more than 240 feet since the 1980s, according to ADWR records. Land subsidence has accompanied groundwater loss, raising concerns about damage to infrastructure and wells, as well as the long-term capacity of aquifers to store water.

Ranegras Plain is the third AMA created since 2022, joining Willcox and Douglas in a wave of new rural protections. Under the state’s 1980 Groundwater Management Code, AMAs are subject to enhanced oversight and conservation rules. The new designation means water users operating large-capacity wells will now be required to measure and report groundwater use, and new irrigation acreage will be restricted based on a November 5, 2025, baseline.

Governor Katie Hobbs, in her January 12 State of the State address, applauded the decision. “We can no longer sit idly by while our rural communities go without help,” she said, calling the designation “a necessary measure to protect both families and farms, as well as Arizona’s groundwater supplies.”

The move comes after the Ranegras Plain was first flagged by ADWR at a Governor’s Water Policy Council meeting in August 2023 for “significant groundwater level declines.” Since then, the agency has received hundreds of public comments, most of which support the designation. Many voiced concerns about unchecked groundwater use threatening the future of local agriculture and property values.

ADWR will now work with local stakeholders to develop a management goal and a conservation-focused plan for the AMA, as it has with other recent designations. Continued outreach is planned in the coming weeks to support communities through the transition.