Updates

Ten municipal water providers in Arizona have adopted regulations to limit demand from new large-volume water users. This report explores the pros, cons and complexities of such ordinances and summarizes the differing approaches water providers are taking to address large-volume water users. 

Read the report

Sarah Porter, Director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at ASU’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy, shares crucial insights on the evolving battle over Colorado River water rights. As the river slowly dries up, states are positioning themselves for influence over this vital resource.

Last year the Kyl Center for Water Policy introduced a new blog series featuring updates on Colorado River, groundwater and other water policy issues in Arizona.

The next two years will be pivotal as stakeholders negotiate the reservoir operating rules that dictate Colorado River shortages in our state, and these shortages will impact our groundwater. We will try to bring some clarity through light-hearted updates featuring a movie theme. This is our fifth segment in this series. We hope you enjoy it!

In response to drought and declining reservoir levels, in 2007 the seven states that share Colorado River water agreed to new guidelines for managing the system. Since then, the states have agreed to additional measures to avoid critically low lake levels. 

The 2007 guidelines and additional measures will expire in 2026, and the states have not yet agreed to a new plan for the Colorado River.

Read our latest explainer to find out more about the implications for water users in Arizona: 
 

Central Arizona – the Phoenix to Tucson region – is facing deeper cuts in Colorado River supplies and approaching the limits of new urban development reliant on local groundwater. Yet, year after year, the region continues to attract more people and industry. 

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.