Water scarcity in rural Arizona is pushing Governor Hobbs to call for action as large corporate farms outdo residents in water consumption, leaving towns like Willcox grappling with dropping groundwater levels. During her recent visit to the town, Governor Hobbs vowed to seek conservation solutions, underscoring the dire need for regulatory intervention amidst legislative inaction. According to a statement from the Office of the Governor, Hobbs highlighted the critical state of Willcox's water resources, as one of its main wells began "pumping air," a stark signal of the environmental strain the region faces.

Willcox Deputy City Manager Michael Resare illuminated the situation, saying, "This part of Arizona is somewhat the Wild West, where they can pump as much water as they want to and there are zero restrictions on that." He also mentioned to The Arizona Republic that the city has to now monitor well water levels every month—a frequency once relegated to annual checks, as per the Office of the Governor.

Subsidence, the collapse of the ground as aquifer levels fall, has become an all too common feature in Cochise County with land sinking by as much as 11 feet since the 1970s. The feedback from local officials was stark: Willcox's situation worsened particularly after a commercial user started heavily extracting water from a well just a stone's throw from the city well, causing the city's supply to nosedive beneath functional levels. In a grim recount, one resident depicted the harsh reality of living with a scant 1,500 gallons of water a month, choosing between daily showers or laundry, as reported by the Office of the Governor.