At the East Valley Partnership and Salt River Project forum on June 9, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey said the state needs to be “vigilant” when dealing with the feds on water issues.
Ducey said reliable facts, learning from our past, and saving where we can, and working together is “especially imperative when we talk about the historic and often contentious issue of water in Arizona.”
“Historically, it’s been imperative that Arizona fight for our fair share of this precious resource – and that we use what we do have efficiently, intelligently and profitably,” said Ducey. “And thanks to tough, pragmatic and inspiring leaders of our past, Arizona is sufficiently prepared to face the challenges that exist as we enter our sixteenth year of drought in the west.”
Ducey said that because Arizona’s past leaders made difficult decisions before, “It’s no accident that Arizona is not facing the same challenges that face California at this time. Instead, Arizona stands where California could have been – had they taken our path decades ago.”
He praised Carl Hayden, Mo Udall, John Rhodes, Bruce Babbitt, Stan Turley, and Jon Kyl for understooding and respecting “our dry climate. They knew drought was not only possible, but probable.”
“From our earliest diversions and canal systems in the mid-1800s, to the Salt River Project and Yuma area irrigations projectsin the early 1900s, the Colorado River Compact in the ‘20s, the Central Arizona Project and the Groundwater Management Act in the ‘80s, one thing’s clear: we’ve been proactive in our water management since before statehood,” stated Ducey.
Ducey claimed that between 1957 to 2013, Arizona reduced its water consumption by 100,000 acre feet and now uses less water today than in 1957.
“Not only do we use less,” he stated, “we have saved and stored water in a big way. Thanks to careful planning, there is approximately 9 million acre feet of water stored in Arizona.”
According to Ducey, Arizona Department of Water Resource Director Tom Buschatzke addressed Arizona’s issues in the U.S. Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing.
Ducey laid the issues:
First – The continued decline of Lake Mead, even in years with normal precipitation and runoff, is a great concern and needs to be addressed.
Second – The potential for deeper, more draconian shortages of Colorado River water to the State of Arizona must be limited.
Third – There needs to be federal support for conservation programs that will benefit the entire Colorado River system, rather than any one user.
That’s especially true given how much some users – like Arizona – have already done voluntarily to maintain the levels of the system.
Fourth – There should be no fallout from the water crisis in California that may limit or impact Arizona through actions by the Secretary of the Interior.
Fifth – Finding ways to augment the Colorado River, and other supplies of water in Arizona, is key to our future growth.
Sixth – The increased risk of catastrophic wildfires in our national forests due to poor forest management is a risk to our communities and our water supplies. Implementation of landscape forest restoration is a key factor in fixing the problem.
Ducey said Arizona “must be vigilant as we deal with the federal government to address these issues.”
“Many of the most critical day-to-day decisions affecting our water supplies are being made in Washington D.C. So we must impress upon them what Arizona has already put on the table, and ensure that their decisions empower us to control our own destiny,” stated Ducey. “I see the potential for a productive and effective partnership with the federal government – so long as their actions to aid California do not reduce Arizona’s flexibility or ability to manage our water.”
“Arizona already takes the lion’s share of Colorado River shortages. Federal actions that might further impact Arizona are not warranted and would not be equitable,” staed Ducey.