The Arizona Department of Water Resources report Arizona’s Next Century: A Strategic Vision for Water Supply Sustainability proposes to meet Arizona’s critical water needs by focusing on ways to “augment” or increase state water supplies through a series of expensive, large scale infrastructure projects or other expensive projects that would import water from another area. We believe a clearer vision of water sustainability for Arizona’s future is needed, one that would:
- Consider environmental water needs and propose policies to keep rivers, streams, and springs flowing;
- Consider the water needs of rural Arizona;
- Incorporate the high probability that climate change will afflict Arizona with multi-decadal droughts, increased temperatures, and diminished water supplies;
- Include new possibilities for controlling water demand through creative and strong water conservation measures; and
- Include a comprehensive economic evaluation of alternative augmentation techniques and advanced water reuse technology.