48-4463. District member's replenishment obligation; accounting rules

A. On or before March 31 of each year beginning in the fifth calendar year following the year in which the district is established, each district member shall file a report with the district and the director containing the following information for the preceding year, which is the reporting year:

1. The amount of incidental replenishment.

2. The amount of groundwater withdrawals made and the amount claimed pursuant to each of the exemptions listed under section 48-4502, paragraph 1.

3. The total water used by the member.

4. The actual central Arizona project water supply.

5. The total amount of central Arizona project water allocated to the district member for municipal and industrial use by the United States secretary of the interior.

6. The total amount of surface water, other than central Arizona project water, delivered to the district member for non-irrigation use in the district by irrigation districts and water users' associations.

7. The number of surface water right acres in the district for which the district member was delivered surface water, other than central Arizona project water, for non-irrigation use by irrigation districts and water users' associations.

8. The normal central Arizona project water supply.

9. The amount of central Arizona project water ordered by the district member from a multi-county water conservation district for municipal or industrial use.

10. Such other information as the district or director may reasonably require.

B. The district shall compute each member's replenishment obligation as follows:

1. Compute the member's adjusted groundwater for the reporting year.

2. Compute the member's incidental replenishment for the reporting year by subtracting excluded groundwater from total water used by the member and multiplying the difference by the incidental replenishment factor determined by the director for purposes of section 45-857.01.

3. Compute net groundwater by subtracting the member's incidental replenishment from the adjusted groundwater.

C. For the reporting years beginning the fourth calendar year through the seventeenth calendar year following the year in which the district is established, to compute the district member's replenishment obligation, multiply net groundwater by:

1. One-fifteenth for the fourth calendar year following the establishment of the district.

2. Two-fifteenths for the fifth calendar year following the establishment of the district.

3. One-fifth for the sixth calendar year following the establishment of the district.

4. Four-fifteenths for the seventh calendar year following the establishment of the district.

5. One-third for the eighth calendar year following the establishment of the district.

6. Two-fifths for the ninth calendar year following the establishment of the district.

7. Seven-fifteenths for the tenth calendar year following the establishment of the district.

8. Eight-fifteenths for the eleventh calendar year following the establishment of the district.

9. Three-fifths for the twelfth calendar year following the establishment of the district.

10. Two-thirds for the thirteenth calendar year following the establishment of the district.

11. Eleven-fifteenths for the fourteenth calendar year following the establishment of the district.

12. Four-fifths for the fifteenth calendar year following the establishment of the district.

13. Thirteen-fifteenths for the sixteenth calendar year following the establishment of the district.

14. Fourteen-fifteenths for the seventeenth calendar year following the establishment of the district.

D. The following rules apply for accounting for water for purposes of this section:

1. A district member that receives groundwater for non-irrigation use that was withdrawn for treatment pursuant to CERCLA or pursuant to title 49, chapter 2, article 5 shall account for the water as if that district member had withdrawn the groundwater.

2. A district member that receives groundwater or surface water from an irrigation district or water users' association shall account for the water as if the district member had withdrawn the groundwater or had delivered the surface water.

3. If a district member that is entitled to receive water from or delivered by an agricultural improvement district established under chapter 17 of this title withdraws groundwater in the district in lieu of receiving the water, the groundwater shall be accounted for as having been withdrawn by the agricultural improvement district if the surface water that would have been delivered to the district member is of such a quality that the district member cannot treat it in an expeditious manner and at a reasonable cost to meet primary or secondary drinking water maximum contaminant levels established by the director of environmental quality and the failure to meet secondary drinking water maximum contaminant levels makes the water unusable for the intended purposes to the extent the agricultural improvement district would have delivered water that it accounts for as surface water.