Politics, Oversight, Outreach, and Feasibility: The Wild Ride of Rotenone Use in Arizona

The ability to use piscicides in Arizona has gone through a laborious and complicated process to modify the planning and application approach.  State legislation was introduced during three legislative sessions that would have limited the use of piscicides, particularly rotenone, in fisheries management.  When the first bills were introduced in 2011, a subsequent moratorium on piscicide applications was issued.  A Blue Ribbon Panel evaluated the potential impacts of rotenone to human health, the environment, and livestock, and a report was developed with multiple recommendations on the future of rotenone applications in Arizona.  The recommendations were accepted, a rotenone policy was adopted, and a new process for treatments was developed.  Still, similar legislation was again introduced in 2012 and 2013 and the bill was signed into law (A.R.S. 17 § 481).  Since the law has been in effect, two rotenone treatments have been completed, and although they varied tremendously in scope and scale, the planning and approval processes were identical.  Although at times highly cumbersome, the new process has increased the transparency, diligence, oversight, and the amount of public outreach per project, as well as the scrutiny of each project concept and the associated political environment to ensure successful treatments.