AG Announces Groundbreaking Willcox Basin Settlement; WRRC Named
On January 8, 2026, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced a settlement agreement between Arizona and Riverview, LLP, a Minnesota-based company that owns and operates two large dairies in the Willcox Basin in southeastern Arizona. This settlement—the first of its kind in Arizona and the nation—aims to reduce groundwater pumping and will provide $11 million to aid residents impacted by falling groundwater levels in the area.
Between 2010 and 2015, water levels in the basin dropped by 2–4 feet annually. Since 2015, that rate has increased to 3–5 feet per year. Land subsidence and earth fissures are a growing issue, and an increasing number of residential wells are going dry.
Riverview, which is the basin’s largest groundwater user, will modify their water usage on 2,000 acres of irrigated farmland over the next 12 years, either by fallowing or converting those acres to a different, lower-water-consumption use. They will continue to employ best-management practices for agricultural operations on their remaining irrigated acreage. Riverview will also establish two funds of $5.5 million each to pay for well-drilling, water-hauling, and improving groundwater access for impacted residents.
The first fund, the Riverview Funding Commitment, will be directed to residents impacted within a 1.6-mile radius of any Riverview Irrigation Well, and will be administered by Riverview in accordance with the terms of the agreement. The second, the Sulphur Springs Water Fund, will assist those impacted outside of that 1.6-mile radius. It will be administered by a third-party nonprofit (not named in the agreement) and a Review Panel of five members each appointed by one of five entities including the WRRC.
A press release from the Attorney General’s office provides more detailed information about the settlement, including statements from Arizona legislators, water experts, community leaders, and local residents praising this settlement for the impact it will have on the future of the Willcox Basin and rural groundwater in Arizona.