In 2001, ADWR undertook a review of the Upper San Pedro Basin to determine if it met the statutory requirements for designation as an AMA. This report reviews the water supply and demand of the USP Basin in the context of the statutory criteria and includes a discussion of whether any of the criteria have been met. Previously, ADWR conducted a study of the USP Basin and issued a report in 1988 in which ADWR determined that the Basin did not meet the statutory criteria for AMA designation. ADWR indicated in the report that it would reassess conditions in the Basin in ten to fifteen years. The study described in this report is an evaluation of whether the conditions of the USP Basin satisfy the statutory criteria. This report contains a description of the current and projected water resources and water demand in the Basin, incorporating new information since the previous review. The report examines historic water use trends, evaluates the groundwater resources of the Basin, and projects impacts of future water use on Basin groundwater supplies. The report includes an evaluation of the incidence of subsidence or fissuring, and of the potential for groundwater quality degradation due to groundwater use. The report further describes and evaluates the impact that AMA practices would have on water use, and includes a summary of findings, the director’s determination of whether the Basin should be designated and recommendations.

As a result of high growth rates, physically and legally limited water supplies, drought, economic constraints, and relatively little comprehensive water resource planning and management, water supplies are stressed in some parts of Arizona. The Arizona Department of Water Resources has collected and synthesized currently available water-related information for the State of Arizona into a “water atlas,” organized by planning area.