An employment lawsuit is pitting two of the state’s largest actors on water issues against each other, and some say its outcome could complicate Arizona’s efforts to manage its water and prepare for drought.

In our interactions with customers, stakeholders and the general public, Central Arizona Project representatives have noted that most people think the long-term drought is the reason for the declining water levels in Lake Mead. They're only partly right.

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton told a Washington panel Tuesday that Arizona is in a fight to make sure other states, particularly California, don’t take water “that rightfully belongs to the people of Arizona.”

Gripped by a prolonged drought, Arizona faces possible cuts to its main water supply in the next 18 months. Residents, however, face none of the restrictions that neighboring California has imposed this year.

Arizona wants more control of its water resources as the ongoing drought in Western states brings the likelihood of further shortages to the region, a state official testified Tuesday.

Water experts expect Colorado River shortages to kick in within the next two years, which could lead to price increases for customers and big impacts on agriculture.

A study by researchers from the University of California, Irvine suggests that groundwater loss in the Colorado River Basin is not only higher than expected, but that other water sources may be inadequate to fill the gaps if it disappears.

Water issues in Arizona are as varied as the state’s terrain but one thing’s for certain — the price we pay for our most precious natural resource is going to increase in the face of shortages triggered by continued drought and climate change.

Ronald Rayner has been fascinated with water since he was a boy on his father’s farm in Goodyear. Now a partner on the family farm, A Tumbling-T Ranches, he has found a way to conserve water and double production since 1980.

Residents of the Sun Corridor stretching through the Valley and Tucson turn on faucets, water lawns and fill swimming pools without any doubt that the state’s most precious resource will always be there.