As part of its ongoing examination of Arizona groundwater policy, Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­ is visiting with water experts and policy leaders about their views on groundwater and what they believe are the defining issues for one of the state’s most pressing challenges.

Today CBN visits with Cheryl Lombard, president and CEO of Valley Partnership.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­: Cheryl, tell us about your job and what your organization does.

Cheryl Lombard: I’m president and CEO of Valley Partnership. We’re an advocacy organization for real estate development across the Valley and in Arizona. We have all types of real estate developers. We have masterplan developers, and we have industrial & commercial, which includes office, retail and multifamily. We advocate for responsible development, which we’ve defined in terms of certain policy outcomes, which includes working on water, infrastructure, transportation, and consistency across cities in terms of their regulations.

CBN: Let’s say you meet a new legislator, maybe you meet a new city councilperson, and they say, “Cheryl, I want to know more about water. I want to learn more, but it’s a daunting subject. Where do I start?” What are some of the guideposts that guide your work in the water space that you attempt to convey to elected officials and regulators?

Cheryl: That’s a subject that when I joined Valley Partnership six years ago that I took on. The situation then was a little more certain in terms of water. It certainly wasn’t something my members were being asked or even thinking about from their investors. But now it is a question. We have worked over these past six years in developing policies. Those policies include getting new resources of water, protecting what we have, and determining how we pay for it.

We mainly engage in the Active Management Areas. We’re looking at how we pay for water now, how we have good water policy, how we built infrastructure. Real estate development is part of the solution. Many of our masterplan developers are building wastewater treatment plants, same with even our commercial office buildings. They are building infrastructure pipelines and they pay impact fees that pay for infrastructure in our cities that build our water infrastructure and help pay for supplies. We also pay water rates in our cities.

CBN: In Arizona, we read headlines about some big new investment – a development that’s going to result in a big building where lots of people are going to work. But in some corners those developments will face criticism that the project is too water intensive. How do you respond to critics who charge your industry is exacerbating the state’s water challenges?

Cheryl: Our urban areas have been planning, our whole state has been planning for years. We have great infrastructure. We have great bones in terms of water supplies, very senior water rights in our urban areas. Those are not big concerns. Major cities have invested in that water infrastructure, and they have done great work in terms of conservation. New development actually uses less water than any type of older infrastructure, older developments, residential and commercial office space.

CBN: You are in a high-demand industry. You are in a fast-growing state. Do we have the supply of water to keep up with that demand?

Cheryl: Yes. Obviously, with the Colorado River we’re entering a tier-one shortage. The first wave is something that we’ve expected. That was part of the Drought Contingency Plan, which we just negotiated two years ago.

We have a great history in our state of coming together, which is what we did with DCP. We knew that these tier-one cuts were coming. It just came a little sooner than anticipated. Arizona is working toward finding more solutions. There are other means of water, whether it’s using Harquahala water, which is already legally enabled to be transferred from that basin into the AMA (Active Management Area). If we’re looking at other supplies, there’s de-sal (desalinization). That’s quite a ways away. We’re now looking at some really important federal legislation that’s going to be introduced by Senator (Mark) Kelly, dealing with the Colorado River Indian Tribes. That’s going to be an important source. Salt River Project is looking to expand storage. Our cities are storing water underground. We have great supplies of water as we enter not only future reductions in Colorado River water, but as we transition away to other resources.

Just last session, Speaker (Rusty) Bowers led the way in terms of creating that drought mitigation fund. That is going to be an amazing tool for new sources of water. We’re hoping next session that gets expanded in terms of funding and other opportunities.

CBN: We’ve got Pinal County farmers who are now forced to rely less on the water in the canal and more on groundwater from wells. If your members were to build a building in Pinal County, would your members be using the water that comes out of the canal or would they be using groundwater?

Cheryl: Let’s remember the purpose of the Pinal AMA has a different purpose than the rest of the other AMAs. It’s an agriculture-heavy community that was hypothetically transitioning to development. So, it has what’s called “planned depletion.” They have had the legal right to go to groundwater.

For real estate development, though, we have to meet what’s called the assured water supply to enable development in the Pinal AMA or, really, anywhere. Right now in the Pinal AMA, because of the imbalance of the aquifer, real estate development is not able to get new certificates in the Pinal AMA.

CBN: Is that only homebuilders, or also other types of builders as well?

Cheryl: Only for residential do you have to get assured water supply. But where this is important, hypothetically, are these big industries that are going down in Pinal County. We have great concern about meeting the residential demands of those new employees that are coming there. We really need to start to identify new sources for Pinal County and, again, the rest of our state, which is why the Speaker’s fund last session was so important.

But this is not unique to all our AMAs. It’s not unique to the rest of our state that we’re struggling with these issues as we grow and determine how we manage our water resources. We do have water, we just have a few regulatory hurdles to move some water around, which is going to be an interesting discussion.

CBN: Let’s say you’ve got a member who wants to build a factory in Pinal County. Should they have to meet the assured water supply the same way homebuilders do?

Cheryl: I’m co-chair of the Post-2025 Committee, which is dealing with those issues. That question as to whether we should be strengthening the groundwater code — specifically in AMAs — in this time of crisis has come up.

It has been the majority sentiment of those on the committee that we need to first address additional supplies before we go amending the Groundwater Act. We need to have that certainty in place before we start adding new limitations to the Groundwater Management Act.

CBN: You are a development and growth booster, but you’ve also talked about the need for responsible growth. On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being totally pessimistic, 10 being optimistic, do you believe Arizona can meet this desire and demand to grow?

Cheryl: We already have a great basis. We do have the Groundwater Management Act. The most immediate struggle will be down in Pinal County and what the future looks like in terms of agriculture, responsible development, and industry in those areas, as well as across of all the AMAs. We’re really going to have those discussions.

Also, cities want to be responsible users of their water sources and determine the best type of businesses to attract. I think we’re going to see more of that in our cities. Those are good discussions for us to have.

How do we strike the right balance? What are some of those criteria for us to really look at so that we can have homes and jobs in one area?

CBN: In the years you’ve worked on water policy, what’s a misperception or something that gets reported that you hear over and over again that you most want to correct?

Cheryl: It’s all of these out-of-state news organizations starting with the perception that nothing is sustainable in Arizona. Whether it be that we’re too hot, or we don’t have water. Now we have other states that are trying to take our good fortune in terms of what’s going on with our economy and trying to leverage water against us. That is just really frustrating because, frankly, Arizona has been planning. We’ve had the Groundwater Management Act much longer. California just got it. So, getting those facts out to outside of our state is important. That’s my biggest pet peeve at this point.

There is a way to do all of this. There is a way for us to work with flowing rivers, agriculture, mines and development & industry, and all work together.

CBN: Do we need to revisit the Groundwater Management Act, or is it satisfactory the way it is?

Cheryl: It is satisfactory the way it is right now. We need to utilize the tools that are within the Groundwater Management Act, such as certain exceptions to transfer groundwater outside of the AMAs. Now is the time we’re going to need that. Now’s not the time to take those away.

We need to also actively work with tribal partners. Once that certainty is established, we can look at what’s next in terms of the Groundwater Management Act.

CBN: You’re an optimist in in that regard?Cheryl: Yes. I feel very strongly about that. We already have very good bones, much better than most states across the West. We need to demonstrate our ability to pull together so that we can have more certainty and then examine all of our regulations.

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As part of its ongoing examination of Arizona groundwater policy, Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­ is visiting with water experts and policy leaders about their views on groundwater and what they believe are the defining issues for one of the state’s most pressing challenges.

Today CBN visits with Chelsea McGuire, director of government relations for the Arizona Farm Bureau. 

This interview has been edited for clarity and length. 

Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­: Chelsea, tell us about your job at the Arizona Farm Bureau and Farm Bureau’s structure.

Chelsea McGuire:  I am the director of government relations at the Arizona Farm Bureau. It’s my job to put our Farm Bureau members who are farmers and ranchers in front of the right decision-makers they need to talk to when they’re facing an issue. That could be state legislators, other types of regulators, it could be state agencies.

One of the things that we are really proud of and really protective of is our grassroots structure. Every county in Arizona has an active county Farm Bureau. And those county farm bureaus are all members of the state Farm Bureau, which is the organization I work for. Those county members are the producers of food and fiber in this state who’ve come together and said they want to be part of an organization that can represent farmers from an advocacy perspective and then also from a communications and education perspective. Everything that we do is driven by our grassroots membership.

CBN: Is it fair to say that water and water policy is an issue that’s top of mind for Arizona Farm Bureau members?

Chelsea: Not only is it fair, but I can’t emphasize enough how top of mind it is. Every member that I talk to, it’s their issue number one. Why it’s such an important issue is a little bit different for every member, depending on what they raise, what they produce, where they’re located and what their operation looks like.

CBN: Would you say that farmers are good stewards of Arizona’s water resources?

Chelsea: I would and I do say that quite often, and there are a few reasons for that. The most obvious is that water is the most important resource that our farmers need. If you’re not a good steward of that resource, you’re not a very good businessperson because water is a finite resource – you must have it to grow whatever it is that you’re growing. If you waste water, it’s money out the door.

Another reason is that farming is such a generational industry. When I’m talking to ranchers or farmers or whoever it is, oftentimes their biggest goal and their deepest desire is that their children will be able to take over their operation. They know that for that to be possible their children are going to need those resources, too. So, it doesn’t make sense for them to take what they have and use it badly and ruin it for the next generation when what they want to see is that future generation being even more successful.

Water stewardship is the natural way of things when it comes to agriculture.

CBN: Do your members rely on a mix of surface water and groundwater?

Chelsea: It’s going to depend on where they’re located. The big topic of conversation recently has been central Arizona and the farmers located in Pinal County, especially. Their typical mix has been about 50-50 groundwater to surface water. In the next few years, it’s going to look extremely different because their surface water source is no longer available, thanks to the shortage on the Colorado River. They’re going to be transitioning much more heavily to a groundwater source.

In Yuma, you’re looking a lot more skewed to surface water because they’re located on the Colorado River. When we’re talking about our vegetables, our leafy greens capital of the world, most of that production is reliant on the Colorado river on surface water.

And if you go to the corners of the state when we’re talking the Wilcox basin or up in Mohave County or La Paz County, that’s going to be very heavily groundwater reliant because there’s not a great infrastructure to get that surface water to communities, making it more groundwater intensive there.

CBN: How do you respond when someone says agriculture and agribusiness is a big part of Arizona’s legacy, but it’s just too water-intensive and that we can’t continue to support farming the way we might have in generations past?

Chelsea:  I think I respond that legacy is a lot less important than security. And there’s a reason that Arizona has the economy that it has. Having agriculture as a part of our economy isn’t just good from a dollars and cents aspect. It’s good from a food security aspect. We’re able to grow so much of what we rely on right here in our state. I understand the complexity of the agricultural economy and that we’re not just eating things in Arizona that we grow here in Arizona. But we are able to have an extremely robust local food supply because of the agricultural economy that we support. And if COVID-19 taught us anything, it’s that supply chains are very fragile, especially when we’re talking about agricultural supply chains, which are just-in-time supply chains, because that’s the way that they’re most efficient.

So, if we’re talking about whether agriculture is too water-intensive and whether we ought to put that water to higher, better uses, my argument is actually that agriculture is one of the highest and best uses of water not just because of the economic prosperity it provides, but because of the ability that it gives our state and our country to feed itself.

CBN: Thinking about groundwater, does agriculture have a strategy or methods to replenish aquifers?

Chelsea: One of the great things about irrigation is that it delivers a natural recharge. When you’re irrigating a crop, it’s going into the ground, the plants aren’t using the entirety of that water. Some of that water is naturally going to recharge the aquifers beneath the ground. Now, is that the same as a developer who’s intentionally pumping thousands of acre-feet into a recharge facility? No. But there are other environmental benefits that agriculture has as well.

Air quality is a huge issue in this state. We have several non-attainment areas for air quality that are mostly related to dust. When you have a fallow field, that’s where dust comes from a lot of the time. But, if you have something that’s covering that field, a crop that you’re growing, that’s really important for that air quality because it keeps the soil healthy. Soil health is another big thing that agriculture doesn’t get enough credit for considering all the carbon sequestration that happens through agricultural production.

We’re using water to grow plants that are taking carbon from the atmosphere to do what it needs to do, putting some of that carbon back into the soil, which has incredible benefits to your soil structure. Plus, we’re taking greenhouse gas out of the atmosphere where we don’t want it and putting it somewhere where we do want it. It also creates wildlife habitat, creates insect diversity, and attracts pollinators. Agriculture doesn’t get the credit that it should have for what it does.

CBN: Central Arizona and Pinal County specifically is a hot area for industrial development and new job creation. Does the Farm Bureau believe we can strike that balance between development in the region and agriculture, or does one sector necessarily need to win out?

Chelsea: I think we can strike that balance. I think it’s really hard to do. And it’s hard to do without the perception that someone is a winner, or someone is perceived as the loser, but there are certain principles that you can use to guide that development. One of the things that our policy states is that we believe development should drive to where there is water. That may seem a little counterintuitive because agriculture is where there is water, but driving development to agriculture does a couple of things.

The first is that it helps maintain agricultural land values. In a business like agriculture that is so capital intensive and has very narrow profit margins, you’re borrowing against that land value most of the time. If we know that there’s development happening in that county, that land value is going to increase and actually allows farmer to have a little bit more cushion there to keep producing the food that they produce until they decide it’s the right business decision for them to move on to something else.

The other thing is that you still need agriculture to support development, and you do to some extent need development to support agriculture. We want rural communities to have great schools to send their kids to. We want them to have great hospitals when they need medical care. All of those things work together. And there’s really no reason that we have to be one or the other. We just have to make sure that those incentives and those policies are there to support both of those things, which are both critical to our economy and our state.

CBN: Is it a frustration for the Farm Bureau that development and agriculture are pit against each other?

Chelsea: I think it is. One, it doesn’t have to be that way, and two, just because the two do really need to work together well to make the decisions that need to be made. You’ll find that we agree a lot more often than we disagree.

CBN: Let’s say a newly elected legislator comes to the Farm Bureau and says, “I know I need to learn more about this topic of water. I need to learn more about groundwater and the difference between groundwater and surface water hydrology, but I’m not really sure where to start. What are some key principles that you recommend I adhere to as I try to figure this topic out?”

Chelsea: In terms of general principles, I would say most of Farm Bureau’s water policy is really underpinned by the idea that water is a property right. The use of water belongs to the land. It should not be taken from a landowner without proper compensation. Of course, that can be really tricky with what Arizona’s water law looks like. That statement that water rights are inviolate and water is a property right goes against some of what Arizona water law says. That automatically puts us in a somewhat strange position, but that’s really what we start with. This is a right. This is an important integral inviolate, part of land ownership.

The other aspect I would say underpins our policy is that one size does not fit all. When we try to create regulation to manage a resource that blankets the state, that doesn’t really work because the water situations look so different from basin to basin. We really appreciate our current Legislature recognizing the uniqueness of our local communities and trying to figure out what regulatory structures can look like that respect and work within those communities.

Third, because of the unique situations of our local communities and because every water user has a different need in that conversation, there has to be meaningful representation of the water users whenever you’re talking about water regulation. You’re not going to know what those local needs are if you’re not actually talking to the people using water in those localities. Farmers and ranchers believe they have to have a seat at the table as someone whose opinion is respected and valued and reflected in the ultimate decisions that are made.

CBN: In central Arizona we’re asking farmers now to shift to greater reliance on groundwater from surface water. Does that sometimes mean drilling new wells, or is it relying on existing wells?

Chelsea: It’s a combination of both. Agriculture in Pinal County prior to the 1980s was entirely dependent on groundwater because there was no such thing as the CAP (Central Arizona Project) canal. They couldn’t bring Colorado River water to the county. There was a lot more agriculture in Pinal County then. It was a lot of water being used, and they were starting to see some detrimental environmental effects of that. Subsidence is the thing you’re always going to hear about. That was one of the things that spurred the Groundwater Management Act and got Pinal County onto this increased mix of water sources. So, they began using a whole lot less groundwater and a whole lot more surface water.

There’s always been a groundwater delivery infrastructure in Pinal County, and that’s still there, it’s still functioning, it’s still efficient, but now we need to ramp that up significantly to make up for hundreds of thousands of acre-feet of surface water they’re not going to get anymore. So, they’re going to rely on their existing wells, they’re going to drill new wells, and they’re going to revamp some old wells that maybe aren’t as efficient as they need to be.

CBN: What are the limits on what farmers can take out of their well?

Chelsea: That’s another one of those questions that it depends on where you are in the state. When we’re talking about Pinal County, or in any of the Active Management Areas across the state, agricultural land has associated with it certain pumping rights. Those rights are going to look a little bit different across the AMAs, but that’s what the farmer is limited to. And that’s what the Arizona Department of Water Resources measures and manages and lets farmers know whether they’re within their allotment. Or, if they’re in a best management practices program, the farmer reports on their management practices they’ve put into place to make sure they’re not pumping more than they need to.

CBN: If you were to ask members of the Farm Bureau, are farmers satisfied operating under the current groundwater code? Does it need to be updated? Does it need to be thrown out and we need to start over, or is there no prevailing opinion on the Groundwater Act?

Chelsea: I would say we have a complicated relationship with the 1980 Groundwater Management Act. We definitely recognize what it did to help us manage this resource more effectively and put into place an expectation of what wise water use looks like.

There are aspects of that code, like the irrigation non-expansion areas, that are focused solely on agriculture. We think that there’s an issue there. If you talk to some of my members, they would also tell you that agriculture is subject to stricter provisions under the code than some of the other industries. Then again, if you talk to the other industries, they’re going to say the same thing.

There are some building blocks of that Act that make a lot of sense and have done some really good things for the state and have helped industry stay successful within the state.

Sometimes when you put big, landmark legislation into place, you don’t always think about what the worst possible scenario that could happen under the act. You have to make exclusions or make exceptions to get policy passed. That’s just part of politics.

Are all of the specifics of the Act what we would like them to be? No. Are the building blocks and the principles that guide the Act essential to wise water management for the areas where it’s in place? Yes. Does that mean it’s going to work in Wilcox or Mohave County to have an AMA? No.

CBN: What about criticisms from people who talk about water-intensive crops and that farmers ought to grow something else? What is the response to that? Is that a fair criticism, or is it a lot more complicated than simply just growing something else?

Chelsea: It’s so much more complicated. Sure, we can grow something that’s less water-intensive, but can we actually sustain a business growing that crop? Additionally, what kinds of industry do those water-intensive crops support? Alfalfa is the one that I always use as an example because alfalfa is responsible for our dairy industry. Dairy is a great, highly nutritionally dense protein source. It’s something that we want local because it’s also highly perishable. Importing dairy products from other places is extremely expensive and makes the products less readily available. Moreover, having that feed source close to the dairy makes it an extremely efficient business as well, because you’re not transporting a feed source all the way to the dairy and not transporting the dairy products all the way to the retail customer.

As for the argument that we need to grow less water-intensive crops because that’s more sustainable, I believe that’s a very narrow way of looking at sustainability. If something is not producing a product that humans need, is it really sustainable?

I think alfalfa is a good example, because, yes, it requires a lot of a particular resource, but it also means that we’re saving resources and things like fossil fuels because we’re not transporting that alfalfa a far distance and we’re not transporting the milk on the other end. It also means that we have things that are more locally available and meeting the consumer preference for a local food supply. If you look at sustainability on a much more holistic view, just because something is resource-intensive does not mean it’s not sustainable.

CBN:  Do you have members who would be interested in bringing more high-tech irrigation technology on board? What is your reaction to those who say it’s time to get some new technology into the fields?

Chelsea: I think agriculture is often criticized as not being an early adopter of technology, and there’s some fairness to that criticism for sure. But there are also some farmers who really break that mold, and necessity is also the mother of both invention and innovation. When you’ve got a farmer who’s facing what Pinal County farmers are facing, absolutely, they’re going to be willing to do whatever they can to keep their business model alive.

But that next best, greatest irrigation technology has to make sense for the farmer’s soil profile, their geography, for what they’re growing, making sure that they can get water to a seed to germinate it and then get water to a plant to grow it. They also have to be able to afford it, because if you’re going to sink all of your money into the technology and then not actually have enough of it to produce the crop that the technology is supposed to help you with, that’s not a great business model.

So, yes, farmers are absolutely willing to adopt that technology, whether it’s irrigation technology, whether it’s seed breeding technology, whether it’s chemical application in a more precise way, all of those things, but they have to be able to prove that it works and they have to be able to prove that it’s worth the money that it’s going to take.

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As part of its ongoing examination of Arizona groundwater policy, Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­ is visiting with water experts and policy leaders about their views on groundwater and what they believe are the defining issues for one of the state’s most pressing challenges.

Today CBN visits with Todd Reeve, CEO of the Bonneville Environmental Foundation and co-director of Business for Water Stewardship.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­: Tell us about the Bonneville Environmental Foundation and Business for Water Stewardship.

Todd Reeve: BEF, the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, is a nonprofit organization that’s a parent organization for several core pillars of work. Perhaps the largest pillar of work is Business for Water Stewardship. Business for Water Stewardship is BEF’s platform where we collaborate with the private sector, with businesses, large and small, to help advocate for and reinforce proactive and progressive water solutions. The goal for Business of Water Stewardship is to understand private sector and business needs and help build out policies, projects, platforms that can help stretch the benefit of every drop of water to support environment, community, and business needs. We’re very committed to our business partners, but we also see water security as having enough water to support business, community, and environment.

CBN: It’s central to the premise of Business for Water Stewardship that your organization believes that private employers can improve Arizona’s water standing?

Todd: Absolutely–in really, really big ways. Obviously, they all can do a great job of conserving water in their operations and facilitating reuse and water efficiency, which is fantastic and really important. But I think the real potential is when we think about how Arizona has evolved from a very rural kind of pioneering, ranching, farming, mining state to a place where Fortune 50 businesses are increasingly locating and growing. Businesses are critically important. They are massive employers in the state, they’re bringing investment. And so business influence has the potential to influence policymakers, community members, stakeholders. So, just seeing businesses step up, build awareness around these issues and come to the table has unbelievable influence. I sincerely believe that activating business influence is one of the biggest levers that we can push on to advance positive water policy and action needed to achieve long term water security for Arizona.

CBN: One of the things that we’ve heard as part of these conversations with representatives from industry is the belief that development in and of itself doesn’t necessarily need to be a negative for Arizona’s water position. Would you agree with that position?

Todd: I do agree. And I think what we’re talking about is changing the narrative to say, if we do things right, we’ve got incredible promise and upside in the state of Arizona. This isn’t just a dire crisis and things are going to get worse from here. This is an opportunity to really shift the narrative and say, we’ve got the technology, we’ve got the capacity, we’ve got the vision. We can create the policy and practice to really support and grow business investment and maintain adequate water for environment and for communities.

I would have to mention that it can also go the wrong way. Presumably any business use of water, any development, can certainly lead to negative consequences around water, but I think development and business engagement on this is about recasting the narrative and doing it in the right way. And there are examples from Las Vegas and Israel and other places where people continue to do more with less. I think that’s what the opportunity is here.

CBN: There seems to be an emerging opinion that there might be a technological solution here, that there are other arid regions in the world that are figuring out how to still sustain agriculture in arid regions. Is that your experience?

Todd: Absolutely. I think we’re really at the tip of the iceberg in terms of turning the corner on better, wiser water use. There’s no question that technology and agriculture can provide unbelievable gains, and we’re seeing articles every day and analysis showing that there’s new technology that allows agriculture to do more with less water. In some areas of the state agriculture is already very efficient, however, there are still large gains to be made in many regions. It’s interesting to reflect on this and think about our pioneering heritage. Most of our irrigation systems were hand-dug by pioneers a century ago, and because water flows downhill and because water rights exist–if you have access to it, water can be relatively cheap. We really haven’t upgraded some of these systems in significant ways. I think that’s one of the signals we’re seeing–it’s really time to make those investments. Leverage federal funding for infrastructure, leverage state, federal private programs that can put money into long-term irrigation, modernization, and really shore up the ag sector for long-term profitability and success. I think that’s at the top of the list: How do we invest in and deploy technology and infrastructure to sustain agriculture, to sustain ranching and use less water?

CBN: You’re also saying that about the agricultural sector as well. We don’t necessarily have to get rid of agricultural or ignore Arizona’s agricultural legacy. We can do it, but we might need to do it in a different way.

Todd: I think that’s right. Agriculture has evolved in many ways over the last century, and you look at some of these basins in the West and they’ve shifted what types of crops they plant, they’ve shifted how they use water over time. I think we’re at that stage where we’ve been using water in a certain way for a certain type of crop and we really don’t want to change. But I think opportunities are just around the corner and the demographic shift that exists in ranching and farming—combined with the technology–I think we’re right on the cusp of making that shift. That’s where I think there’s incredible opportunity, and I’m optimistic both in the municipal, urban setting and in the ag setting that we will make that transition and will use water where it provides high value to rural communities and farming interests and be able to sustain our agricultural heritage.

CBN: Let’s say that you encounter a new legislator and they say, “Todd, I know I need to get smarter on this, but where do I start? What do I need to know? Or at least what sort of guidepost should I adhere to as I think about groundwater?”

Todd: Given the conversation in Arizona today, I would say it’s really important to understand that Arizona was a pioneer in groundwater management 40 years ago in a small portion of the state. As a result, about 20% of the state has rigorous, active management of groundwater, primarily some of the urban areas, particularly Phoenix and Tucson. And I think the most important thing to know is that outside of those areas, in roughly the remaining 80% of the state, groundwater is open access, unmanaged. And what has shifted is the demands for that groundwater have changed dramatically because there’s open access, there’s risk of overexploitation, there’s risk of outside parties that are better capitalized, drilling deeper, pumping more, undermining existing farmers and ranchers or ones that even were there a hundred plus years ago. So, for me, that’s a central issue right now: 80% of Arizona’s groundwater, mostly in rural areas is unprotected, unmanaged, and the tools don’t exist to allow local communities to create their own pathway to understand, manage, protect, ensure groundwater supply, whether it’s for businesses, small farms, large farms, period.

Number two from my perspective is this matters! Whether you’re a big business or your district is in Phoenix or Tucson, the overall perception of water management and water security in Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­atters to everyone. Even if you’re in Phoenix and you feel that water is relatively well managed in your region and you’re protected, I don’t think we can afford to have articles in the New York Times and other national outlets every week saying that Arizona’s running out of water, because I see our business partners scrutinizing water risk—and public perception of risk IS water risk for businesses and companies. So, understanding that Arizona is comprised of an integrated water story is important, and it would be very advisable for us to be sure that we’re taking care of water in the rural areas in the same way that we’re taking care of water in the urban areas.

CBN:  Is Arizona groundwater policy still doing its job or do we need to reimagine a whole new regime of groundwater policy?

Todd: I don’t think we need to reimagine a whole new regime, but I do think we need to reflect on fundamental changes that have occurred over the last 40 years. We anticipated that the Colorado River would be a reliable input of renewable water supply to the state that, in concert with groundwater, could be managed to sustain long term water availability. We’re now seeing with 20 plus years of drought, with climate change and aridity, that renewable freshwater supply from the Colorado will not be able to provide what we thought it would. So, that puts additional pressure on groundwater, which increases the stakes. That has changed how we need to reflect on long-term water supply.

I think Arizona put a lot of quite amazing management pieces into the groundwater puzzle in 1980 and many — probably most — of those pieces are valuable and should remain. There certainly are questions about how the current Active Management Areas are functioning and whether there might be some tuneups that could enhance those region’s ability to sustain long-term water supply for business and communities. That’s important.

I think most important is not to throw those systems out. They’ve worked well, and we need to sustain them and maintain those systems so that they can continue to be refined and protect those water resources.

CBN: Will water supply necessarily always be depleting, or can we increase water supply?

Todd: The answer is yes, we can change the supply picture. Some of it is through management actions. If we think about aquifer storage projects, if we think about reuse projects, efficiency, that can be seen as increasing water supply. And sometimes we think about if there were federal or state incentives for more reuse and water recycling—right out of the gate, we’d have potential for more water available for more uses. And certainly Arizona is exploring other pathways that could increase water availability in the state. And conversations about desalinization, about brackish water, there are pathways out there that have potential to deliver more water.

I think there’s a lot of room to do more with less, with a clearer pathway to water security and water benefits at less cost for the near term. And there are some very compelling pathways that potentially could free up additional water. These should be explored and evaluated, however, it’s important to note that some of these solutions could take many decades to implement. 

CBN: Got it. That’s all I’ve got for you. Is there something else I should have asked?Todd: I personally feel like we don’t want to put pressure on anyone to jump into some really complicated policy that no one understands. It’s about building awareness so that ultimately, we can make better decisions. There are near-term opportunities. There are longer-term opportunities. There’s growing the supply side. There is managing the demand side. And I just think changing the narrative, that’s where we want to be. Let’s turn the corner and get ahead of this. I think what’s inspiring to me.

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