2/21/2002 1078

CHALLENGE MOUNTED TO REFORM ARIZONA WATER LAW

On 1-8-02, the Center for Biological Diversity, represented by the Center for Law in the Public Interest, filed suit to strike down a fundamental but nonsensical basis of Arizona water law: that there is no connection between a river's streamflow and the aquifer that supplies its water. Thus while it is illegal to directly pump water from a stream, it is legal to run the stream dry by pumping water out of the aquifer immediately adjacent to or far from the stream. This biological disconnect was established by the politicking of developers, miners, and agribusiness to allow unrestrained water pumping at the expense of free flowing rivers, riparian forests, and wildlife.

Only ten percent of Arizona's historic riparian habitat still survives. The last vestiges along the San Pedro and Verde rivers are now at risk due to water pumping.