Updates

In the state's most urban areas, Arizona's Groundwater Management Act prohibits the sale of subdivision lots that lack a 100-year assured water supply. Allowing groundwater to qualify as an assured supply conflicts with the Act's overall goal of preventing the further depletion of this non-renewing resource.

Negotiations over the future of the Colorado River hinge on a bold new idea: Floating Pools — reserved water storage designed to reduce conflict and avoid litigation between Upper and Lower Basin states. Our new report explores how this innovative concept could lay the foundation for a durable, post-2026 management framework for the river.

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Access to safe, reliable water is the foundation of public health, economic opportunity and quality of life, and affordability is a key aspect of water accessibility. But most community water systems in Arizona depend on revenue from rate-payers to cover operations and infrastructure costs. Our new report assesses the affordability of tap water rates of over 600 water providers – including publicly-owned systems, Tribal systems and privately-owned systems – to help Arizona communities assess how to balance considerations of affordability with their revenue needs. 

The Yavapai-Apache Nation Water Rights Settlement Agreement is a landmark agreement that resolves the Nation's longstanding water rights claims in the Verde River watershed. 

This explainer explores key aspects of the agreement.

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For over 60 years, the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe have been engaged in legal battles to secure their water rights. In May, these Tribes and other parties announced a landmark settlement. If affirmed by Congress, the agreement will end the Tribes’ long struggle for water security.

Part 5: What are the obstacles to augmentation?

A project to move water, change its use, alter its quality or store it is likely to be expensive.

Part 4: Where will we get the water?

Part 3: Who pays for it?

People won’t move to a place if there’s not enough water for their needs. In a place like Arizona, where surface water supplies are relatively scarce, sustainable management of water is a prerequisite to developing a population and an economy.

Part 2: Is Water Augmentation Needed?

As used in this series, water augmentation refers to the effort to secure additional water supplies for current or future users. Development of water supplies has been a human undertaking since time immemorial, and it will likely continue in Arizona to ensure water for future demand.

Part 1: What is water augmentation?
augment (verb): to make greater, more numerous, larger or more intense
augmentation (noun): the act or process of augmenting something
Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2022.