Section R12-15-1010. Operating Flexibility Account; Tailwater

A.      When calculating credits or debits to a farm’s operating flexi- bility account for a year, the Director shall exclude from the total amount of water used on the farm during that year the amount of any tailwater that originated on the farm and that was delivered from the farm to another farm or to an irrigation district for irrigation purposes during the year if all of the fol- lowing apply:

1.        Prior to January 1 of the year in which the deliveries of tailwater take place, the Director approves a written plan to measure and record the tailwater deliveries. The plan shall include:

a.         The installation and use of a totalizing water mea- suring device that will record tailwater deliveries with no greater than a 10 percent margin of error.

b.        Procedures for keeping accurate records of the tail- water deliveries.

c.         A description of how the tailwater will be delivered.

d.        An identification of the farm or irrigation district to which the tailwater will be delivered.

2.        The person has measured, recorded, and delivered the tailwater in accordance with the plan approved under sub- section (A)(1) of this Section.

3.        The tailwater was delivered directly from the farm on which it originated to:

a.         A specified farm that used the tailwater for the legal irrigation of irrigation acres or surface water right acres on that farm, or

b.        A specified irrigation district that delivered the tail- water for the legal irrigation of irrigation acres or surface water right acres within that district.

B.       A person who delivers tailwater in accordance with subsection

(A)   of this Section, and a person who directly receives and uses the tailwater pursuant to subsection (A)(3)(a) of this Sec- tion, shall account for and report the tailwater as if it were comprised of a mixture of groundwater, decreed and appropri- ative surface water other than normal flow, central Arizona project water, spillwater, other surface water, and effluent, as applicable, in the same proportions as those types of water comprise the total amount of water other than normal flow received or withdrawn for irrigation use during the calendar year on the farm on which the tailwater originated.

C.      A person who uses tailwater that has not been delivered and accounted for as provided in subsections (A) and (B) of this Section may credit against the person’s use of groundwater in a calendar year the amount of the tailwater used during the cal- endar year if the use of such tailwater would cause a debit to be incurred. The credit shall be applied only against the per- son’s operating flexibility account debits that otherwise would have been incurred that year and shall not be used to discharge debits from prior years or accumulate credits for future years. For purposes of calculating credits to the person’s operating flexibility account, the Director shall treat tailwater as ground- water, unless reported otherwise according to its source.

D.      An irrigation district that receives tailwater pursuant to subsec- tion (A)(3)(b) shall account for the water in the same manner as other water in the district’s distribution system.

Historical Note

Adopted effective December 12, 1990 (Supp. 90-4). Amended by final rulemaking at 11 A.A.R. 5395, effec- tive February 4, 2006 (Supp. 05-4).