The Arizona Water Banking Authority was created in 1996 to store the unused portion of Arizona’s annual allocation of the Colorado River. By storing this unused water the AWBA secures a dependable water supply necessary to ensure the state’s long-term prosperity. The plan is intended to govern the operations of the AWBA over the course of the entire calendar year.

The Arizona Water Banking Authority is required to provide an interstate water banking accounting report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee on or before October 1 of each year for the previous fiscal year if the AWBA was owed or received money pursuant to an interstate water banking agreement with the Southern Nevada Water Authority. The AWBA shall not spend, encumber, lend or in any other way use the monies received pursuant to the interstate water banking agreement except to pay the costs directly incurred in meeting the AWBA’s obligations under the agreement. This statutory provision was enacted in 2009.

The Arizona Water Banking Authority was created in 1996 to store the unused portion of Arizona’s annual allocation of Colorado River water. Until the AWBA was created, Arizona had not fully utilized its 2.8 million acre-foot allocation of Colorado River water and the state’s leaders recognized that leaving a portion of Arizona’s allocation in the river was a lost opportunity. The AWBA was created to provide assurances that water users within the state had secure, long-term water supplies.