Arizona’s Growth Threatens Water Supplies

Reporting for KJZZ, Katherine Davis-Young examines Arizona’s increasingly urgent water crisis. As Davis-Young explains, “Maricopa County’s population has more than doubled over the past 30 years, making it one of the fastest growing regions in the country. But meanwhile, Arizona’s water supply has become more and more depleted.”

The 1980 Groundwater Management Act called on the state to use underground aquifers primarily as a back-up and employ tactics to replenish groundwater supplies, but Kathleen Ferris, a researcher from Arizona State University, says that has not been happening. 

“In most areas of central Arizona, a developer can’t build a new home without first proving that there’s enough water to last that property 100 years. But there are loopholes for larger lots in rural areas, like many homes in Rio Verde Foothills.” And while some cities like Phoenix have actually reduced their water use even as their population grew, rapid development happening in undeveloped desert areas largely counts on groundwater. “Back in 1980, legislators set a target to achieve safe yield of groundwater by 2025. So Ferris thinks the time for elected leaders to start answering questions about growth and sustainability is now.”

More Planetizen coverage of the water crisis in the American West:

• Colorado River Compact Needs 21st Century Update
• Federal Program Provides Direct Payments for Colorado River Water Conservation
• Colorado River Water Crisis Deepens
• Report Sounds the Alarm for Western Reservoirs
• Federal Government Declares Water Shortage as Lake Mead Reaches Critical Low