Arizona’s Department of Water Resources reported that the 2026 legislative session ended June 13 with hundreds of bills transmitted to the governor. Earlier in the session, Arizona lawmakers advanced bills described as improving groundwater planning and rural water access, reflecting continued disagreement over how much pumping regulation rural areas should face. Arizona already regulates groundwater more strictly in some urban areas, but many rural basins face separate debates over farms, ranches, housing, local control, well failures, and long-term aquifer decline. Rural water rules should protect wells and farms, but they cannot be written as if Phoenix and every rural basin are the same place.