Irrigation Grandfathered Rights (IGFRs)

An Irrigation Grandfathered Right (IGFR) is a right to irrigate land in an active management area that was legally irrigated any time between 1975 and 1979, based on crops historically grown, for which a certificate has been obtained, with a few exceptions for substitution or transfer of acres under specified circumstances. The process for determining acres entitled to and for calculating a groundwater allocation is specified in A.R.S. § 45-465.Also included in this zip file are Irrigation Non-Expansion Areas. An Irrigation Non-expansion Area (INA) is a geographical area that has been designated as having insufficient groundwater to provide a reasonably safe supply for the irrigation of the cultivated lands at the current rate of withdrawal. Within INAs, new agricultural use of land occurring on land that was not irrigated in the five years preceding the designation of the INA is prohibited with a few exceptions for substitution or transfer of acres under specified circumstances.