Katharine Jacobs

1

July 1, 2008 Representative Giffords Water Issues
Town Hall Sahuarita, Arizona
Arizona Water Issues and the Role of the Arizona
Water Institute

• Katharine Jacobs
• Executive Director
• Arizona Water Institute

2
Surface Water/Groundwater Management Achievements

• Major strides have been made by the State and
  its water management partners in securing water
  supplies for the AMAs
• Groundwater Management/Conservation
• Central Arizona Project
• Underground Storage and Recovery Program
• Arizona Water Banking Authority
• Assured Water Supply Program
• Colorado River Management

3
Unresolved Water ManagementIssues in Arizona

• Groundwater overdraft/achievability of safe-yield
• Geography of supply vs demand, esp. in rural
  areas
• Low priority of CAP water supplies
• Second highest population growth rate in the
  country
• Exempt domestic wells and wildcat subdivision
  issues
• Environmental sustainability no protection for
  habitat/riparian areas
• Groundwater vs. surface water management

And then, theres climate change
4
Connecting Science and Water Management

• Projected climate change impacts on flows in the
  Colorado are significant majority of models
  project 10-40 reductions in runoff

Saturation curve relationship of vapor pressure
and temperature is non-linear

• Temperature affects both supply and demand the
  demand side of this equation is important

• Implications for groundwater
• not well understood

5
Emerging Policy Issues in the West

• Drought and climate change implications for water
  management and safe-yield/sustainability adding
  stress to a system already stressed
• Increasing complexity and legal challenges to
  management system/limited adaptive capacity of
  institutions
• Scientific uncertainty used as a rationale for
  inaction

Lake Powells decline J. Dohrenwend, USGS
6
Emerging Policy Issues in the West

• Increasing fragmentation of habitat, intersection
  of people and public lands
• Implications of energy and water nexus in a
  global economy
• Unwillingness to pay for long term solutions/make
  the tough choices
• Era of limits redeploying existing supplies
  economic dislocations
• Need for adaptive management

Lake Powells decline J. Dohrenwend, USGS
7
Arizona Water Institute connecting science and
decision-making

• A consortium of Arizonas
• universities focused on water sustainability in
  Arizona and throughout theworld through water
  research, education and technology
• 400 water related faculty/staff
• 3 state agencies
• Public and private partners
• Close to 40 projects underway (or completed)

8
AWI Themes for 2007-2008

• Arizona Hydrologic Information System
• Emerging contaminants and treatment technologies
• Capacity building/ watershed support
• Energy and water sustainability
• Climate change/drought/
• adaptation
• Salinity management technologies

Lower Santa Cruz Replenishment Project CAP