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HB2650 - 572R - I Ver
REFERENCE TITLE:
rainwater harvesting; appropriation
State of Arizona
House of Representatives
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
HB 2650
Introduced by
Representatives
Liguori: Abeytia, Aguilar, Cavero, Connolly, De Los Santos, Gutierrez,
M�rquez, Peshlakai, Simacek, Stahl Hamilton
AN
ACT
Amending section 49-1332, Arizona Revised
Statutes;
amending title 49, chapter 8, article 5,
Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 49-1336; appropriating monies;
relating to the water infrastructure finance authority.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 49-1332, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE
49-1332.
Water conservation grant fund; purposes
A. Monies in the water conservation grant fund must
facilitate voluntary water conservation programs or projects that are expected
to result in at least one of the following:
1. Long-term reductions in water use.
2. Improvements in water use efficiency.
3. Improvements in water reliability.
B. Monies in the water conservation grant fund may
be used for the following:
1. Education and research programs on how to reduce
water consumption, increase water efficiency or increase water reuse.
2. Programs and projects for rainwater harvesting
, including those undertaken pursuant to the RAINWATER harvesting
PROGRAM ESTABLISHED by section 49-1336
, gray water systems,
efficiency upgrades, installing drought-resistant landscaping, turf
removal and other practices to reduce water use.
3. Programs or projects to promote groundwater
recharge and improved aquifer health.
4. Programs or projects to improve groundwater
conservation and surface water flows.
5. Landscape watershed protection, restoration and
rehabilitation, including through green infrastructure and low-impact
development to conserve or augment water supplies
6. Projects facilitating coordinated water
management, including groundwater storage and recovery.
7. Programs or projects to reduce structural water
overuse issues.
8. Program implementation and administration costs
for eligible programs.
END_STATUTE
Sec. 2. Title 49, chapter 8, article 5, Arizona
Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 49-1336, to read:
START_STATUTE
49-1336.
Rainwater harvesting program; eligibility; application;
limitation; audit; definition
A. the rainwater harvesting program
is established in the authority to assist an eLIGIBLE ENTITy or a
nongovernmental ORGANIZATION that focuses on water conservation or
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION that partners with an ELIGIBLE entity in installing
passive or active systems to collect and retain rainwater
on-site. Applicants shall submit project plans for approval by the
authority before receiving any grant monies for reimbursement. The
authority shall make available grant monies as reimbursements for projects
based on the submittal date and the suitability of a project plan.
B. The authority shall establish an
application form and project plan requirements that are consistent with those
established for the water conservation grant fund pursuant to this
article. To receive approval and grant monies for a project, the
project must comply with all applicable zoning, permitting, backflow prevention
and use requirements for the project at that location.
C. The rainwater harvesting program
shall provide for two levels of grants as follows based on the type of project:
1. For level 1 grants, the following
apply:
(
a
) The project
is a simple and passive rainwater harvesting system.
(
b
) grant
monies may be used to reimburse up to fifty percent or a maximum of $500 of the
cost of eligible materials and labor.
(
c
) Costs
eligible for reimbursement include:
(
i
) Surface,
subsurface and conveyance features.
(
ii
) Mulch,
soil amendments and rocks and boulders for reinforcement.
(
iii
) Equipment
rental, such as tillers, jackhammers and trenchers.
(
iv
) Permit
costs and costs for curb cuts and coring.
(
v
) Labor from
persons who are licensed by the registrar of contractors in the specific trade
or field appropriate to the work performed.
2. For level 2 grants, the following
apply:
(
a
) The project
is an active and more complex rainwater harvesting system than a level 1
system.
(
b
) grant
monies may be used for the full cost of the rainwater harvesting system based
on the capacity of the rain storage tank, up to a maximum of $2,000, as
follows:
(
i
) For a tank
with a capacity of fifty to seven hundred ninety-nine gallons, $.25 for
each gallon of tank capacity.
(
ii
) For a tank
with a capacity of eight hundred gallons or more, $1 for each gallon of tank
capacity.
(
iii
) The $.25
and $1 per gallon capacity rebate amounts include the costs of the tank,
gutter, tank foundation, overflow and miscellaneous materials that make up the
system.
D. Grant monies do not cover and the
following are not reimbursable costs:
1. Conveyance features that direct
rainwater off-site without entering an appropriately sized landscape retention
feature or storage tank.
2. Overflow features, such as a rock
or mulch basin.
3. Removing and replacing old
gutters.
4. Importing soil to create passive
rain garden practices.
5. Purchasing or delivering gravel or
decomposed granite as a surface cover.
6. Purchasing or installing
pressurizing pumps or associated controls.
7. Purchasing or installing
irrigation systems or backflow prevention devices that are otherwise required
for a site with a pump system for distributing nonmunicipal potable water.
8. Purchasing or installing
landscaping materials, such as plants, edging or decorative gravel.
9. Labor that is provided by the
owner, a handyman or any other person who is not a licensed contractor in this
state.
10. Purchasing tools, such as
shovels, rakes, drill bits and garden hoses.
11. Used or reconditioned tanks and
cisterns unless approved by the authority.
E. The authority may inspect and
audit a project that receives grant monies pursuant to this section.
F. For the purposes of this section,
"eligible entity" has the same meaning prescribed in section 49-1301.
END_STATUTE
Sec. 3.
Appropriation;
water infrastructure finance authority
of Arizona;
rainwater harvesting grant program; exemption
A. The sum of $___________
is appropriated from the state general fund in fiscal year 2026-2027 to
the water conservation grant fund established by section 49-1331, Arizona
Revised Statutes, to fund and administer the rainwater harvesting program
established by section 49-1336, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by
this act.
B. The appropriation made
in subsection A of this section is exempt from the provisions of section
35-190, Arizona Revised Statutes, relating to lapsing of appropriations.