Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Source for Arizona Government, Politics and Business

Under a special permit, 26 breweries already made use of reclaimed wastewater as the basis for new craft beers.

All along the U.S.-Mexico border, about 840,000 mostly low-income, immigrant Latinos have settled in colonias – cheap plots of land outside city limits without basic infrastructure such as water and sewage systems, electricity and paved roads.

In the 24-month report released by the United States Bureau of Reclamation in 2016, the bureau predicted a more than 50 percent chance of a water shortage in 2018. This August, the Bureau of Reclamation report reduced that projection to zero.

Was this just a brief respite from 20-plus years of drought, or are we finally at the end of the latest 20- or 30-year dry cycle and ready to start the next wetter period? We don’t know the answers to those questions yet.

After 44 years, the adjudication of water rights in Arizona is still far from being resolved, and water policy experts say that resolving these competing claims is essential to providing certainty about water rights.

For those of us that do not follow the intricacies of water policy, we are left asking basic questions, such as how to deal with drought and climate change? How do we manage growth and economic development opportunities sustainably to support future generations? And importantly, how can we ensure that Arizona’s last remaining rivers, streams, and springs are preserved, not just for future generations, but right now, for all?

Many of us take our water supply for granted, yet as water becomes scarcer it is more important than ever to be clear who speaks for the diverse interests and people of Arizona. Efforts are moving forward to avert a potential crisis for Arizona due to the declining reservoir levels on the Colorado River – these are very important to manage water scarcity in the short term.

The Colorado River Indian Tribes are seeking to protect the life of the river and potentially the lives that depend on it. Any leasing of our water beyond our borders, as other tribes have done, is complex and challenging. Yet, there could be many opportunities for mutual gains for water users in the state of Arizona and economic gains for our people.

The state of Arizona is experiencing a paradigm shift. We spent the last 30 years taking as much water off the Colorado River as possible to keep it away from California. Now, the waters of the Colorado River are not only fully subscribed each year, but over-allocated compared to the true yield of the river.

One week before the race, Gabby Giffords was shot. I immediately knew I had to do something to help. I sent an email to my friends, asking them to donate money or blood to the Red Cross to help the victims of the shooting. The response was overwhelming.