Is the state ready to make hard decisions for long-term water future?

[Ptah]

PHOENIX - Residents of the Sun Corridor stretching through the Valley and Tucson turn on
faucets, water lawns and fill swimming pools without any doubt that the state's most precious
resource will always be there.

More than century of planning has brought Arizona to this point, starting with the Salt River Project
and decades of arduous negotiations that led to a supply of Colorado River water. So have the
landmark Groundwater Management Act of 1980 and a system of banking some of the state's
Colorado River allotment in aquifers.

While all of it gives Arizona flexibility in the near term, many conversations these days focus on
the long term as two decades of drought grips the Southwest and the Colorado River's watershed.

In January, an Arizona Department of Water Resources report pointed to the potential for a long-term
imbalance between available water and demands over the next century. It said that Arizona will need to
develop additional water supplies over the next 25 to 100 years to keep pace with growth.

http://www.prescottaz.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=131665

[Kali]

1. perhaps we should try using concepts like sustainability instead of growth