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GW Protection Program | Pesticide

Groundwater Protection

Pesticide and Groundwater Quality

Revised on: Sept. 5, 2023 -  12:26 a.m.

The Arizona Pesticide Groundwater Quality Protection Program is responsible for evaluating mobility and persistence data submitted in support of new pesticide product registration.  To identifying which active ingredients have the potential of polluting Arizona groundwater so we can prevent or eliminate the pollution of aquifers of the state from routine use pesticides for agricultural use such as:

  • Greenhouses (commercial or research)
  • Cropland
  • Food and fiber production
  • Forests
  • Irrigation ditches
  • Rangeland
  • Ground applied seed protection
  • Soil fumigation
  • Tree farms
  • Sod farms
  • Aquatics

Under the Environmental Quality Act of 1986, all new agricultural-use pesticides are to be registered with ADEQ and submit groundwater protection data for review and approval to Arizona Department of Agriculture.

All pesticide product data submitted to ADEQ, including the product chemistry and environmental fate studies of the corresponding active ingredients must be consistent with EPA guidelines for these studies and comply with Arizona environmental (soil) requirements. After completing a substantive technical review, ADEQ determines if the product’s active ingredients pose a threat to groundwater quality.