Aside from Phoenix, whose air quality is poorer than that of most other US cities, Arizona has long been noted for its clear air, open lands, and beautiful forests. The main environmental concern of the state is to protect these resources in the face of growing population, tourism, and industry.
State agencies with responsibility for the environment include the State Land Department, which oversees natural resource conservation and land management; the Game and Fish Commission, which administers state wildlife laws; the Department of Health Services, which supervises sewage disposal, water treatment, hazardous and solid waste treatment, and air pollution prevention programs; and the Department of Water Resources, formed in 1980, which is concerned with the development, management, use, and conservation of water. The Department of Water Resources created five zones to monitor water use by about 80% of the population (using about 75% of the state's water). The Rural Arizona Watershed Alliance, representing the remaining 20% of its population who reside in the rural areas making up 85% of Arizona's land mass, has been funded by the legislature since 1999/2000 to undertake statewide planning for water resource use and allocation.
Legislation enacted in 1980 attempts to apportion water use among cities, mining, and agriculture, the last of which, through irrigation, accounts for the largest share of the state's annual water consumption. Less than 1% of Arizona's land is wetlands. In 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency's database listed 167 hazardous waste sites in Arizona, nine of which were on the National Priorities List. In 2001, Arizona received $60,402,000 in federal grants from the EPA; EPA expenditures for procurement contracts in Arizona that year amounted to $202,000.