With population growth, rivers drying up, 13% water rate hikes in Phoenix, Tucson supposedly running out of water in a decade, and Saudi farming deals – what’s happening in Arizona!?
***CORRECTIONS:
at 2:03 the subtitle should read “Hohokam” not “Holokam”
at 5:42 the subtitle should read “becomes” not “because”
at 7:58 I meant to say “$25/acre” not “$25/acre-foot”
Well, despite all of the headlines and fearmongering – the situation isn’t actually as bad as some would make it out to be.
The Valley of the Sun was settled by the Hohokam for around 2,000 years as they slowly developed over 135 miles of irrigation canals – rivalling systems in ancient Egypt and China. These people took their water seriously and eventually supported the largest population in the southwest by 1300.
Following environmental and social changes in the 14th and 15th centuries, the Hohokam civilization slowly faded away as their canal heads were destroyed and their irrigation system became a relic of the past. When Americans began settling the now-sparsely populated area in the 1800s, they rediscovered these old canals and established Phoenix as a farming community to supply food to nearby mining towns like Wickenburg.
As Phoenix grew, so did the county and state’s water conservation methods. In the early 1900s, the Salt River Project was established and repurposed many of the old Hohokam canals as part of its modern system. More recently, the Central Arizona Project was established to bring water directly from the Colorado River to Arizona’s population centers.
We’ve been forced into more serious conservation methods than nearby states largely as a result of the 1922 Colorado River Compact which gives Arizona less of an allotment from the river than California and requires Arizona to take cuts before the Californians.
Arizona currently sources 36% of its water from the Colorado River, 18% from other in-state rivers, 41% from groundwater, and 5% from reclaimed water.
Rechargeable aquifers are usually filled by the CAP in their domain – and without recharging – the aquifers would generally be depleted in about a decade. To alleviate these issues – Arizona needs new dams and reservoirs to catch water going downriver. Currently, when our reservoirs are full, we simply send the overflow water to Mexico with no efficient way to capture it for Arizonan use.
Arizona must expand its renewable water resources while making these resources cheap and easily accessible to rural Arizonans who have been dependent on groundwater for over a century.
Foreign entities, most notably Saudi company Fondomonte, have taken advantage of a deal that allows them to pump our water at $25/acre. While our AG has made some efforts against these entities, foreign entities still utilize thousands of acres of Arizonan land to pump dozens of thousands of acre-feet of Arizonan water per year.
Over the past decade, many have come forth with ideas to secure Arizona’s long-term water interests.
Last year, Kari Lake suggested that the state should begin desalinating water near Yuma and consider construction of pipelines from the Mississippi or Missouri river basins. While expensive, experts generally agree that these megaprojects would work.
Rep. Kolodin has been a vocal proponent of desalinating our brackish groundwater as a cheaper alternative to desalinating oceanwater.
Needless to say, there are plenty of options that we can take in the future to secure Arizona’s long-term water. With recent moves such as Rep. Schweikert securing federal support for a new hydropower-focused reservoir, the future is looking bright for Arizona.
So, in summary:
AZ has a long, layered history of water management and conservation. Despite receiving the short stick in the Colorado River Compact, Arizona has well managed its water and is actually reversing the course of a shortage and water levels are rising. While non-renewable sources such as groundwater are on a timer, we are slowly shifting away from them as myriad viable megaprojects are proposed for long-term security.
If I left anything out, if you have questions, or if I made an error and you want to correct it – please leave a comment and I’ll address it as soon as possible!
Special thanks to Amanda Monize, Alex Kolodin, and @EnergyParks for their knowledge and insight as I was making this video. I appreciate your passion for Arizona, our water, and the future of this region as a whole.
Thank you for your time! God Bless Arizona!
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 intro
00:31 groundwater is limited
01:01 hohokam canals
01:45 early maricopa county
02:57 the issue isn’t population
03:29 colorado river compact
04:30 central arizona project
05:00 non-renewable water
06:59 phoenix rate hike
07:50 the saudi deal
08:10 the future
09:24 final overview
10:01 conclusion
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2 Comments
Hi! Thanks for watching. Some corrections that I'd like to highlight:
The runoff from the river rarely makes it to Mexico as much of it is absorbed along the Gila when Verde water is released. We do have a international compact that provides a percentage of the Colorado to the Mexicans.
The new dam in question actually isn't for a reservoir – but is a new SRP dam for hydropower.
Desal plants (if built in Mexico) wouldn't bring water to AZ but would replace the water they take from the Colorado – and AZ would get their allocation.
at 2:03 the subtitle should read "Hohokam" not "Holokam"
at 5:42 the subtitle should read "becomes" not "because"
at 7:58 I should have said "$25/acre" not "$25/acre-foot"
yo twit, its the desert