The 2023 legislative session is being brought to you by the letter E. As in education funding and election issues. These promise to be among the most contentious issues as lawmakers return to the Capitol on Monday.

A plan pushed by Gov. Doug Ducey to use desalinated seawater to address Arizona’s water woes crossed a major hurdle today. Despite transparency concerns from lawmakers, the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority board unanimously approved a resolution today directing the board chairman and staff to begin discussions with IDE Technologies, an Israeli company planning to build a desalination plant on the Sea of Cortez in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. 

Because of cuts to Arizona’s water and the state’s climate conditions, homeowners should consider sustainable ways to use water, according to Warren Tenney, the executive director of the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association.

Our groundwater must be protected and safeguarded through the best management possible. And we must remain vigilant and wise to ensure reliable water supplies can support responsible growth. This is why continued planning, investing, and being efficient with our water is vital now and for our collective future. 

An organization that represents major Arizona cities is effectively warning Pinal County farmers not to demand more in the proposed drought contingency plan.

As we face the first Colorado River shortage, we need to get it right the first time. Arizona needs to implement LBDCP in a way that strengthens and preserves the long-term water management that is critical to our communities and economy.

Collaboration is often touted as key to Arizona’s successes in water management, and it is. We just forget how messy, cantankerous, and difficult collaborating can be. We are seeing it again this summer as the state wrestles with Colorado River and groundwater issues in a stakeholder process led by Gov. Doug Ducey.

Arizona water bigwigs are meeting with the governor’s staff in an attempt to unify the state’s voice on water issues and come up with new ideas to conserve and manage water.

The 100th anniversary of Salt River Project’s Theodore Roosevelt Dam this month put the exclamation point on how important effective water management is to life in the Valley of the Sun.