With water levels in Lake Powell and Lake Mead at record lows, federal officials are ready to spend tens of millions of dollars to get farmers and other water users to conserve this year and keep the reservoirs from falling farther.

Sales of marijuana in Arizona soared to $1.6 billion in 2021, just one year after recreational cannabis was legalized in the state, making Arizona second only to California for retail sales that year, according to an industry research group. 

Due to a logjam in interstate negotiations for massive cuts in Colorado River water deliveries, farmers and urban users have no idea how much water use they'll be ordered to cut. 

The time has come to start asking the hard questions. Does an industry that adds 1% to the state GDP have the right to mine our groundwater, destroy our flowing rivers, and take water that can never be replaced? Can this industry be reformed or modernized to use less water? How do we better protect Arizona's water resources so that flowing streams and rivers are not dried out by thirsty groundwater wells growing alfalfa for dairy cows? Should certain crops be discouraged or banned? Should groundwater pumping have a monetary cost?