System Water Plan Guidance Document

On March 20, 2003, Governor Janet Napolitano established the Governor’s Drought Task Force to address the drought issues facing all Arizonans. The Task Force made several recommendations, documented in the "Arizona Drought Preparedness Plan", including that the Governor seek legislative authority for the Arizona Department of Water Resources to require water systems to develop a drought plan. The plan would include mitigation strategies, including a water conservation plan to reduce vulnerability to drought and plan for drought response actions. In addition, the Governor’s Drought Task Force recommended legislative authorization for ADWR to require all water systems to provide consistent and coordinated water supply information to ADWR. The Arizona Legislature passed House Bill 2277 during the 2005 legislative session, creating a requirement for community water systems to develop and submit a System Water Plan to ADWR. The development of these plans is an important step toward improving water resource management planning at both the state and local levels. They will enable the state to identify data gaps and gather much needed information.