1st Edition

Arizona Water Policy Management Innovations in an Urbanizing, Arid Region

Edited By Bonnie G. Colby, Katharine L. Jacobs Copyright 2007
    272 Pages
    by Routledge

    272 Pages
    by Routledge

    The central challenge for Arizona and many other arid regions in the world is keeping a sustainable water supply in the face of rapid population growth and other competing demands. This book highlights new approaches that Arizona has pioneered for managing its water needs. The state has burgeoning urban areas, large agricultural regions, water dependent habitats for endangered fish and wildlife, and a growing demand for water-based recreation. A multi-year drought and climate-related variability in water supply complicate the intense competition for water. Written by well-known Arizona water experts, the essays in this book address these issues from academic, professional, and policy perspectives that include economics, climatology, law, and engineering. Among the innovations explored in the book is Arizona‘s Groundwater Management Act. Arizona is not alone in its challenges. As one of the seven states in the Colorado River Basin that depend heavily on the river, Arizona must cooperate, and sometimes compete, with other state, tribal, and federal governments. One institution that furthers regional cooperation is the water bank, which encourages groundwater recharge of surplus surface water during wet years so that the water remains available during dry years. The Groundwater Management Act imposes conservation requirements and establishes planning and investment programs in renewable water supplies. The essays in Arizona Water Policy are accessible to a broad policy-oriented and nonacademic readership. The book explores Arizona‘s water management and extracts lessons that are important for arid and semi-arid areas worldwide.

    Contents Figures and Tables Foreword About the Contributors Acknowledgments 1. Water Management Challenges in an Arid Region: Key Policy Issues 2. Shaped by Water: An Arizona Historical Perspective 3. Balancing Competing Interests: The History of State and Federal Water Laws 4. The Water Supply of Arizona: The Geographic Distribution of Availability and Patterns of Use 5. Drought, Climate Variability, and Implications for Water Supply and Management 6. Water Transactions: Enhancing Supply Reliability during Drought 7. Sustaining People, Habitats, and Ecosystems: The Challenge of Integrating Water Policy and the Environment 8. The Disconnect between Water Law and Hydrology 9. Protecting the Supply: Arizona‘s Water Quality Challenges 10. Implications of Federal Farm Policy and State Regulation on Agricultural Water Use 11. Urban Growth and Water Supply 12. Water Supply and Management in Rural Arizona 13. Arizona‘s Recharge and Recovery Programs 14. Tribal Water Claims and Settlements within Regional Water Management 15. Lessons for Semiarid Regions Facing Growth and Competition for Water Index

    Biography

    Bonnie G. Colby is a professor of agricultural and resource economics at the University of Arizona. Her previous books include Braving the Currents: Resolving Conflicts Over the River Basins of the West. Katharine L. Jacobs is the executive director of the Arizona Water Institute, a consortium of the three Arizona state universities, and has more than 20 years experience in water management.

    'A brilliant introduction to water conflicts, politics, and economics in a desert state renowned for little water and much innovation. This book has important lessons for coping with looming water shortages in virtually every river basin and nation worldwide.' Bruce Babbitt, U.S. Secretary of the Interior (1993 - 2001), Governor of Arizona (1978 - 1987) 'A very informative and valuable work. Those interested in the complexity of issues in arid regions will find a wealth of information.' David S. Brookshire, University of New Mexico