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The Republic | azcentral.com Wed Oct 30, 2013 1:59 PM

When the Arizona Legislature swept the budget of the Arizona Department of Water Resources following the state’s financial crisis of 2009, it made an error common among even the savviest of water-policy experts:

It assumed that because all the big pieces were in place, Arizona water policy could run on autopilot. That was short-sighted. Very. Short. Sighted.

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There are 15,000 active claims to water rights along the Little Colorado River. There are 83,200 claims to the Gila River system. The ADWR provides the technical expertise to adjudicate those claims and thousands of others. So, when the Legislature axed the ADWR budget to a pittance in ’09 and ’10 — throwing dozens of invaluable water-policy experts onto the streets — it effectively carved away the brainpower directing operations for Arizona’s most vital resource. Bad move.

But it gets worse. Those highly trained ADWR professionals provided expert testimony in countless court cases to resolve water rights.

Many of those cases are heard in Arizona courts — a great benefit to this state’s best interests, because adjudication here avoids the confusion that comes with federal case law being applied to Arizona. When cases are tried in Arizona courts, we know where we stand at the end. In federal court? Not always.

With fewer ADWR personnel capable of providing crucial expert testimony, the argument to try these complex cases in federal court — with expert testimony often provided by federal technicians who may not be savvy about Arizona’s unique issues — becomes stronger.

The state Water Resources Department also oversees Arizona’s Groundwater Management Act, which drought and development now jeopardize. The act led to the creation of the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District, which helps provide for replacement sources of groundwater when new development taps into existing groundwater.

At first, the impact of this provision was negligible. It isn’t anymore. By some estimates, more than 200,000 acre-feet of water a year that gets pumped out in one place must be replaced elsewhere.

Concerns are growing about the practice. About the imbalances in underground aquifers when water is pumped out in one location and replaced in another. And in terms of cost: Some water experts fear that unaware homebuyers eventually are going to get stuck with huge and unexpected water bills.