Water Conservation Trends in the Desert
The 2007 Colorado River guidelines – set to expire in 2026 – created strategies to conserve water in drought conditions, innovating solutions such as allowing states to earn water credits and determining an allocation system based on Lake Mead’s water levels.
Sixteen years later, the Southwest is facing its worst drought in over 1,200 years. According to Bureau data, Lake Mead, the main reservoir, lost 2.4 million feet of water between 2006 and 2023. An acre-foot of water can serve one to two average households per year.
So, will there be enough water? Our contributors are optimistic.
Our cover story explains what a great job Tucson is doing in water conservation. We thank Zach Yentzer, VP of Business Advocacy at the Tucson Metro Chamber of Commerce, for putting Tucson in the spotlight in Some Truths About Tucson’s Water Conservation Leadership and giving it the well-deserved credit. In fact, Tucson metro has reduced water usage by 1-2% every year since the 1970s and not using more groundwater than could be replaced year after year.
Lea Marquez-Peterson, Vice Chair of the Water Committee for the National Association of Regulated Utility Commissioners, when asked, “Is Arizona running out of water?” Responded: No, but we have work to ensure our water’s future in ACC Dives Into Arizona Water Challenges.
Marana Water has accepted the challenge, as Jing Luo, Director for the Town of Marana explains with suggestions of how the public can help using technology in Smart Water Metering: A Key to Sustainable Water Management.
As Mark Holden, Principal Planner with Development Serves at Pima County clarifies, “All water is precious -rainwater/stormwater, groundwater, Colorado River water, recycled water – and should be used wisely and strategically” in Go Native and Save Water.
Ron Fleming, Chairman, President & CEO of Global Water, a water company serving several communities in Southern Arizona for 20 years says, “Arizona has seen its population increase and its water use decrease over the past several decades.” Read Ron’s experience in Global Water Resources Celebrates 20 Years of Award-Winning Total Water Management to AZ Communities.
The Santa Cruz River and the aquifer beneath is has provided life to the desert for more than 12,000 years. Recent revitalization and technological upgrades have restored the reiver. Sonoran Institute released A living River: Santa Cruz River Conditions Downton Tucson to Marana while we were putting this issue together, which we’ve included in The Santa Cruz River – Celebrate and Protect.
The biggest water usage is still in agriculture, using 70% of Arizona’s water. Samuel Bertram, CEO and co-founder of OnePointOne, a technology company that uses robots and AI to reduce the water needed with plants grown indoors. We appreciate Sam sharing his insights and showing us that the future is now, in Water-Effective Agriculture: Exploring Vertical Farming’s Role.
Then, with year-end coming soon, we’re starting our countdown to 2024 with George Hammond, Director of the Economic Research Center in the Eller College of Management, giving us his forecast in Arizona’s Economy is Back on the Beat – Q3 Forecast Update.
Tucson MSA has plenty to look forward to in 2024. Modern at Rocking K, our first built-to-rent community to open. Juliet Straker, founder of marketingworx, tells us the significance of this community in Leasing Begins at Moderne at Rocking K.
2024 will bring 426,300 SF of New Retail to Tucson starting this month, and the much-anticipated American Battery Factory: 2 Million SF Gigafactory Breaks Ground this Week.
Thanks to all our contributors and the Trend report team: Patti vanLeer, Michael Rossmann, Melissa Vucijevic, and Jack Paddock for making this issue possible. We look forward to bringing you December’s 2024 Predictions in the next issue.
Thank you to our readers for your continued support. As always, we appreciate your feedback and welcome your comments.
Karen Schutte,
Trend report
Managing Editor