State Investments for a Resilient Arizona

Each year, Audubon outlines its priorities for Arizona’s state budget. We, along with our network, advocate for investments, including conservation funding, that will help improve the resilience of Arizona’s lands and waters. Resilience is the ability to prepare for and adapt to climate shifts and extremes, including rising temperatures, increased drying, and variability in precipitation. 

Additionally, Audubon supports the continued investment in the state agencies charged with managing, conserving, and protecting water supplies—like rivers and groundwater. 

The Arizona legislative session has reached the point where it shifts focus to developing the state budget for the next fiscal year that begins on July 1, 2025. In order to pass that budget, the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature and Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs must reach an agreement.  

In the funding priorities discussed below, we mention the General Fund. The General Fund refers to the portion of state revenues that are not already dedicated for a specific purpose, and its monies primarily come from taxes collected in three categories: sales, corporate income, and individual income. There are also additional funding sources that contribute to the General Fund, and they vary from year-to-year.  

Audubon supports the following state funding investments to protect Arizona’s lands and waters for fiscal year 2026:  

• $26.4 million from the General Fund for the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR). ADWR is charged with protecting and managing Arizona’s water supplies. This funding will enable ADWR to carry out its mission, add six new positions to enhance their team and capacity, assess the available water supplies and demands in every groundwater basin in the state, negotiate among the Colorado River Basin states (as well as within the state) on how Arizona will reduce its Colorado River use after the year 2026, administer groundwater management programs (including the newer Willcox and Douglas Active Management Areas), and be the technical experts in ongoing legal work to determine who has the rights to access water from river and streams across the state, among other duties. 

• $11 million from the General Fund for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. This would ensure adequate staffing to carry out the Department’s required duties for air quality, water quality, and other environmental programs the Department implements.  

• $9 million additional for the Water Quality Fee Fund (administered by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality). This one-time deposit to the Water Quality Fee Fund supports surface water, groundwater, and drinking water programs that protect and improve the water quality integrity of the Arizona’s water supplies. This fund has historically had insufficient revenue to cover annual costs, and this deposit would address the annual shortfall. 

• $10 million from the General Fund for the On-Farm Irrigation Efficiency Fund. Administered by the University of Arizona, this program provides grants and collects data for on-farm irrigation efficiency systems to reduce the use of groundwater, surface water, and Colorado River water. 

• $2.5 million from the General Fund for the Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund. The Heritage Fund provides grants to local entities for park development, historic preservation, nonmotorized trails, and outdoor education. This funding is crucial for protecting important environmental and historical sites and landscapes across the state and serves as a match to garner additional public and private funding.  

  • There is also a bill, House Concurrent Resolution 2011, which did not advance this year, that would allow Arizona voters to decide if $10 million from the state lottery fund should be deposited into the Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund annually, effectively reinstating the monies swept by the legislature during the Great Recession. 

• $1 million from the General Fund for nonnative vegetation species eradication. This effort, administered by the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, promotes the removal of nonnative vegetation species, such as salt cedar (also known as tamarisk), and installation of native vegetation, which can help reduce wildfire and flooding risks, while providing habitat for wildlife.  

• $250,000 from the General Fund for the Arizona Trail: The Arizona Trail spans 800 miles from the Utah border south to the border with Mexico, crossing important habitats for birds like Coopers Hawks and American Goshawks. The Trail is open to non-motorized uses such as hiking, biking, backpacking, and horseback riding. Additional state investments for trail maintenance, planning, and preservation are needed to protect this route for years to come. 

• The Water Infrastructure Finance Authority’s Water Conservation Grant Fund has successfully distributed $214.1 million to water resilience projects throughout the state and could deploy additional projects with additional funding.  The Water Conservation Grant Fund kicked off in 2023 with $200 million, and was recently awarded a supplementary $14.1 million from Governor Hobbs thanks to available American Rescue Plan Act monies. In total, projects are expected to save up to 6 million acre feet of water over their lifetimes. There is need and buy-in from Arizona water users that they can and want to use less water. 

Protecting Arizona’s lands and waters requires continued investment from the state. Urge your legislators to craft a state budget that incorporates the funding necessary to steward Arizona’s natural resources.