U.S. Water News Online
PHOENIX -- Researchers warn there's a disconnect between some Arizona communities' population growth and their water supplies.
A report issued by thinkAZ, a Phoenix-based think tank, called for greater regional cooperation, for new regulatory authority for state and local governments and for collection of additional information about underground water supplies.
The report was based on case studies of three communities -- Buckeye, Prescott Valley and Payson -- which the researchers said could face water shortages if they continue to let development outstrip available water supplies.
Payson's groundwater supplies are dwindling, Prescott Valley can't reliably predict its groundwater supplies because of unregulated well drilling and Buckeye envisions using water also being eyed by other cities, the report said.
"None of them has a sure thing,'' said Rita Maguire, the report's main author. She headed the state Department of Water Resources during much of the 1990s.
Maguire said the three communities studied are moving to address their water needs, including limits on use and requirements that developers help foot part of the bill.
"There's a disconnect in the timing,'' Maguire said. "The people move into town today, but the water problem doesn't manifest itself until a few years down the road.''
And when a city council or board of supervisors tries to address water and growth, "they find themselves trying to serve two masters,'' Maguire said. "One is meeting current residents' needs, the other is trying to ensure a vibrant economy.''
State lawmakers, Maguire said, need to ensure the state Department of Water Resources is adequately funded so it can help smaller communities develop sound water plans.
She also believes the Legislature should impose stricter rules on unmonitored wells in rural Arizona.
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