U.S. Water News Online
PHOENIX -- Gov. Janet Napolitano has called for new water conservation efforts, including stepped-up planning in rural areas and clear authority for the state to impose emergency measures during severe drought.
Napolitano also used a wide-ranging speech on water policy issues to call for a general "culture of conservation'' and to announce a new collaborative effort on water-related research by the three state universities.
A "one-two punch'' of record drought and record growth demands action on many fronts, from conservation at the local level to multistate negotiations on Colorado River supply issues, Napolitano said in her address to an Arizona Town Hall gathering at the Grand Canyon. Her office released a prepared text of the address.
"We must find new ways to sustain our growth in this arid state,'' Napolitano said.
The governor said she envisions an expanding role for the Department of Water Resources, a state agency that enforces water-supply requirements. The department also takes the lead on behalf of Arizona in talks with other states on supply issues.
Tucson and some other communities already are taking leading roles in water conservation but more must be done, particularly in rural areas where regional planning has been lacking, Napolitano said in her speech and a later interview.
"We must develop a culture of conservation in Arizona, wherein everyone who lives and works here does all that can be done to conserve our most vital natural resource,'' she said.
She announced that she has ordered state agencies to reduce their water consumption by 5 percent.
Such reductions were a step recommended by Napolitano's drought task force.
Mandatory water conservation decisions must be made locally, but the state also needs to be able to act, Napolitano said.
The Democratic governor said she will ask the Republican-led Legislature in January to take up the issue of authority for conservation mandates and that her drought task force's proposal to have the state trigger action on a region-by-region basis "is a good place to start.''
Governors now have authority to act under extreme dire circumstances but state law is ambiguous on what can be done in lesser emergencies, Napolitano said in the interview.
Legislative action would help the state develop consensus on water issues, she added.
The "water university'' to be formed by Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona will combine each school's expertise to provide ideas and technology to help solve the state's problems and provide an economic opportunity, Napolitano said.
"Here we can indeed be a world leader in demonstrating how a healthy, growing economy can sustain itself in an arid environment during a time of drought,'' she said in her speech.
Napolitano noted that the drought could prompt a federal declaration of a shortage of Colorado River water. That, in turn, could reduce Arizona's draw of river water, particularly that going to cities and other users of water transported by the Central Arizona Project aqueduct.
Napolitano said the state needs to help the agriculture industry to transition to groundwater if the supply of Colorado River water is reduced and to transition land use from crops to urban development as encroachment on farmlands continues.
Noting water-quality concerns, Arizona and other states also need to ensure that the Colorado River is safe to use, Napolitano said.
Napolitano said the ink isn't yet dry on her drought task force's report and that she plans a statewide tour beginning this month to hear Arizonans' views on water and drought issues.
"After that, I will revisit the drought plan and make any changes that are appropriate,'' she said.
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