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ACTIONS FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

Avoiding a Water Shortage and Protecting the Verde River

Today, we are heading in the wrong direction. The threat of a long-term water shortage for our region comes from the large and growing overdraft of our aquifer and continuing climate change. We need to reduce and eventually eliminate the overdraft and to mitigate the effects of climate change on our water supply.

  • We can't look to the state government for help in saving our aquifer because laws and regulations are focused on growth, not protection of aquifers. See Will ADWR Help?
  • The artificial goal of “safe yield” is diverting attention from the real work that needs to be done. See Is Safe Yield a Solution?
  • A critical step is for our officials to acknowledge the problem and start making plans.  See the article Planning Can Show the Way to learn more about:
    • A long-term plan prepared by municipal and regional officials will provide an overall strategy. 
    • Short-term plans for municipalities will develop the specific conservation programs to reduce excessive water use and to minimize the negative impacts of development.
  • New approaches can be evaluated as part of the planning process. These include converting septic systems to sewer, capturing stormwater, and water-neutral developments. See Aquifer Augmentation.

As citizens, we should contact our current government officials and explain why current water management policies are not sustainable. And, at election time, we should support those candidates who promise to work to protect our water supply and the upper Verde River. 

For a summary of the threats to our water supply see this article.

Join the Citizens Water Advocacy Group and help us meet the challenge!

Updated February 7,2021

DAILY DROPLET

  • "Ranchers need clean water for their stock, farmers need it for their crops, every employer needs it to stay in business, and every living thing needs it for life... The law needs to be clear to protect water quality and the rights of landowners."
    Mark Udall

  • "Water is the driver of Nature."
    Leonardo da Vinci

  • "When the well is dry, we know the worth of water."
    Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1746

  • "...and since flow of information is to spirit what water is to life, we'd best think about how to keep the pipes free and unclogged."
    Raphie Frank

  • "In an age when man has forgotten his origins and is blind even to his most essential needs for survival, water along with other resources has become the victim of his indifference."
    Rachel Carson

  • "We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one."
    Jacques Yves Cousteau

  • "Water is life's matter and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water."
    Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, 1937 Nobel Prize for Medicine

  • "Water is everywhere and in all living things; we cannot be separated from water. No water, no life. Period..."
    Robert Fulghum

  • "It's the water. Everything is driven by the water."
    Mike Thompson

  • "Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over."
    Mark Twain