With Republican Gov. Doug Ducey convening water giants into meetings this summer, it’s become all the more apparent that major water players in Arizona, namely the state’s water department and its canal system, the Central Arizona Project, are at odds.

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.

It appears the two outgoing Corporation Commissioners Gary Pierce and Brenda Burns will be replaced by Republicans Tom Forese and Doug Little, who each have 28.5 percent of the vote, with 35 percent of precincts reporting.

Republican candidates for the Arizona Corporation Commission appear to have embraced the strategy of avoiding debates, skipping at least four forums since the start of the general election campaign.

The debate between the four candidates vying for two seats on the state’s energy and water regulatory panel touched on electricity costs, water infrastructure needs and federal regulations, before devolving into a yelling match over the involvement of the state’s largest utility in the race.

It’s a complex calculation, but at the most fundamental level this much is true: The amount of water needed to have a lush, green lawn in Phoenix would yield a substantially higher water bill for a homeowner here.

A group of extreme, partisan, and stunningly unknowledgeable people are trying to take over the Central Arizona Project Board. Why? Because it’s easy, and because they believe that all government is bad and should be cut.