ARS 45-132: Prohibited Water Bodies, Exceptions, and Permits

ARS 45-132 is the Arizona statute that bars anyone inside an active management area from filling or refilling a lake, pond, lagoon, or oversized pool larger than 12,320 square feet when the water body exists for landscape, scenic, or recreational purposes. The prohibition is broad, but the statute pairs it with eight exceptions covering pre-1987 water features, public recreation sites, alternative water sources, golf courses, underground storage facilities, and resort swimming pools. If your project fits one of those categories and meets its conditions, you can fill; if it doesn’t, the water body is illegal to fill with regulated water.

What the Statute Prohibits

The rule targets water features above a specific size used for a specific purpose in a specific place. All three elements have to line up before the prohibition bites.

The size threshold, set by the companion definition in ARS 45-131, is a surface area greater than 12,320 square feet, or a little more than a quarter-acre. Two or more water features that are physically connected count as one for measuring surface area, so dividing a large pond into linked sections does not avoid the rule.

The purpose test asks whether the water body is filled for landscape, scenic, or recreational reasons. A feature used only incidentally for those purposes, such as an irrigation reservoir people happen to enjoy looking at, is not treated as filled for scenic or recreational use.

Where ARS 45-132 Applies

The statute only reaches water bodies inside one of Arizona’s active management areas. Arizona created the original four AMAs in 1980: Phoenix, Tucson, Prescott, and Pinal.¹ Four more have been added since: Santa Cruz, Douglas, Willcox, and Ranegras Plain, for a total of eight.

If your property sits outside every AMA, ARS 45-132 does not apply. Other state and local water rules may still govern how you withdraw and use groundwater, but the specific prohibition on filling large recreational water features is an AMA-only restriction.

The Eight Exceptions

Section 45-132 lists eight categories of water bodies that escape the prohibition. Each has its own conditions.

Water Features Filled Before January 1, 1987

A water body that was already filled before January 1, 1987, can continue to be maintained and refilled. The same exception covers features where the Director of the Department of Water Resources confirms that substantial construction was underway before that date, even if the feature was not yet holding water.² There is a limit: expanding the surface area after January 1, 1987, forfeits the exception for the water needed to fill the expanded portion. You can keep what you had, but you cannot grow it.

Publicly Owned Recreational Facilities

Water bodies inside publicly owned recreational facilities that are open to the public are exempt. Qualifying owners include the federal government, the state, cities, towns, counties, flood control districts under Title 48 Chapter 21, and multi-county water conservation districts under Title 48 Chapter 22.²

Approved Alternative Water Sources

A water body filled exclusively from approved alternative sources is not subject to the prohibition. The statute recognizes several sources, and they can be combined:²

Effluent, meaning treated wastewater.
Stormwater runoff not subject to appropriation under ARS 45-141.
Poor quality groundwater withdrawn under a permit (see below).
Drainage water pulled under a drainage water withdrawal permit issued under ARS 45-519.
Groundwater withdrawn during the first year of a temporary dewatering permit under ARS 45-518.
Remediation water withdrawn during environmental cleanup under Title 49, including cleanup of nonhazardous releases ordered by the Department of Environmental Quality.
Water used under an interim water use permit issued under ARS 45-133.
Surface water, other than Central Arizona Project water, that the Director determines cannot be physically captured and put to beneficial use by any other holder of an appropriative right.

Exclusivity is the point. Every drop entering the water body has to come from one or more of these sources. Mixing in even a small amount of conventional groundwater or appropriated surface water disqualifies the feature.

Golf Course Water Features

A water feature that is an integral part of a golf course is exempt only if the course complies with the conservation requirements in the management plan for its AMA.² Those plans impose water budgets and efficiency standards, so a course that falls out of compliance loses the exemption.

Underground Storage Facilities

Unsealed water bodies that are part of an underground storage facility permitted by the Director under Title 45 Chapter 3.1 are exempt.² The unsealed requirement makes sure the facility is actually recharging the aquifer rather than holding water on the surface.

Hotel, Motel, Country Club, and Resort Pools

Swimming pools at hotels, motels, country clubs, and resorts can exceed the 12,320-square-foot threshold, but only within limits. A single pool at one of these properties can reach up to 43,560 square feet, exactly one acre. If the property has more than one pool, only one may exceed 12,320 square feet; every other pool has to stay at or below that size.²

Getting a Poor Quality Groundwater Permit

Of the alternative-source options, poor quality groundwater is the one requiring its own permit from the Director. An applicant has to show three things:²

An existing legal right to withdraw groundwater from the proposed source.
That the groundwater is too contaminated or mineralized to serve another beneficial purpose right now, and that treating and transporting it for other uses is not economically feasible.
That the withdrawal is consistent with the conservation goals and management plan for the AMA.

The Director sets the permit’s duration based on how long the poor quality source is expected to last and whether the water might later become usable for better purposes. If any of the three qualifying conditions stops being true, the permit can be terminated. Renewal is available on the same criteria as the original application.

Penalties for Filling Without an Exception

Arizona treats illegal filling as a serious violation. Under ARS 45-136 and 45-137, the Director can issue a written notice, hold an administrative hearing within 30 days, and issue a temporary cease-and-desist order immediately when filling is actively taking place.

Civil penalties tied directly to unauthorized filling or refilling reach up to $10,000 per day. Other violations of the same article, such as failing to meet permit conditions, run up to $100 per day. Ignoring a cease-and-desist order lets the Director seek a temporary restraining order or permanent injunction in superior court.

Criminal liability is also on the table. Knowingly violating any provision of the article, or refusing to comply with a permit or order, is a Class 2 misdemeanor. Continued violations after notice can trigger additional charges.

How Local Rules Interact With ARS 45-132

Section 45-132 preempts city and county laws, charters, ordinances, and regulations addressing the filling of large water bodies, producing a single standard across all eight AMAs.²

Local governments keep one lane open: they can adopt stricter rules than the state standard. A city could ban new recreational water features outright, or impose tighter size caps on resort pools. Local rules already in place before ARS 45-132 was enacted are also preserved.² Before designing a project around one of the state exceptions, check the local ordinance too. The municipal rule may be the binding one.

1
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 45-411 – Initial Active Management Areas; Maps
2
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 45-132 – Filling Large Bodies of Water for Landscape, Scenic or Recreational Purposes Prohibited; Exceptions; Preemption