This week, the Western Growers (WG) Board of Directors spent two days at the Arizona Capitol advocating for the fresh produce industry. The group met with Governor Doug Ducey; President of the Senate Karen Fann; Speaker of the House Rusty Bowers; Senators Rebecca Rios, TJ Shope, Rick Gray, Sine Kerr, David Gowan; and Representatives Joel John, Tim Dunn, Joanne Osborne, Andres Cano, Brian Fernandez, Morgan Abraham and Gail Griffin.

The timing of WG’s visit could not have been better, as Gov. Ducey announced the Arizona Water Authority (AWA) at the end of last week. With AWA at the forefront of every legislators’ mind, they sought input from WG on the potential new structure of the AWA. At such an early stage of formation for the AWA, this allowed WG to communicate the need to ensure that existing water resources are protected for agriculture use while the State seeks to identify and invest in new water resources for Arizona.

*pictured above: WG President & CEO Dave Puglia and WG Chairman Albert Keck discuss the perspective of Western Growers on the newly proposed Arizona Water Authority with Gov. Doug Ducey.