rizona will need to bring the same quality of leadership and creative problem-solving that produced the DCP success story when water stakeholders resume work on the other pillars of a sustainable water future: protecting groundwater in both urban and rural areas, starting the regional process of re-negotiating the 2007 Interim Guidelines, and finding collaborative ways of conserving water while benefitting Arizona’s rivers and streams.

The federal government is warning irrigation districts in Pinal County that using a $20 million state loan to drill new wells to replace Colorado River water they are losing as part of the drought contingency plan could cost them.

The business and private sectors should appreciate the goals of the Ducey administration’s initiative to improve government referred to as the Arizona Management System (AMS), which focuses on understanding “customer” needs, identifying problems, improving processes and measuring results.

State legislators will have mere weeks to pass a complex Colorado River drought plan by Jan. 31 — the deadline imposed by federal officials.

Gov. Doug Ducey vowed Thursday to work with the state Legislature to allocate $30 million to water mitigation efforts so the state can sign onto a multi-state plan to stabilize water levels in Lake Mead, which could soon face a water shortage.

Much work has been done and much will continue to be done – but the sooner we have the drought-contingency plan in place, the greater the benefits we will all reap via a plan that is acceptable to all Arizona water users.

The conclusion of Ken Behringer, counsel for the Arizona Legislative Council, will further complicate Gov. Doug Ducey’s efforts to pass a plan that aims to prevent levels in Lake Mead from falling below thresholds that would trigger catastrophic reductions in Arizona’s water allocation.

Reaching a lasting accord on these challenges is not done by one group working the process alone, but by all of us working together to eliminate uncertainty and strengthen our state’s negotiating posture as we prepare to meet the demands of growth.

Coming to agreement on how best to marshal the state’s water resources and to create sustainability for future Arizonans is among the toughest challenges that leaders in our region can take on. Arizona has chosen to act now. We are opting to improve on the work of previous generations of state leaders to ensure that the word “crisis” remains banished from Arizona’s water lexicon.

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.