The drought has dominated policy in the Valley for the past year
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Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
It seems only fitting that our first-ever 1 Big Thing was about water, an issue that's dominated the headlines in Arizona over the past year.
Catch up quick: At the time, several Arizona cities had recently implemented their drought contingency plans, and we noted that others were expected to follow suit in the near future.
- Glendale, Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Surprise, Temple and Tucson had already enacted their plans.
- Other cities including Chandler, Gilbert and Peoria did so in weeks and months that followed.
State of play: Cities' roles in managing Arizona's water crisis became more pronounced last month when Arizona, California and Nevada announced they'd agreed to a proposal to save 3 million acre-feet of water through 2026.
- Much of Arizona's share of that water will come from cities, which are being compensated for voluntary conservation.
- That includes 150,000 acre-feet that Phoenix will conserve and up to 110,000 acre-feet from Tucson.
Why it matters: The Colorado River basin, which includes Arizona, is in the midst of a climate change-fueled, 23-year drought — the region's worst in 1,200 years.
- That has led to precipitous drops in Lake Mead and Lake Powell, which threaten Glen Canyon Dam and Hoover Dam with "deadpool" conditions if water levels decrease to the point where they can no longer generate electricity.
Between the lines: As the situation grew more dire, federal, state and other officials took more severe measures to conserve water.
- Under the terms of 2007 and 2019 agreements, the Central Arizona Project (CAP) lost 592,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water this year.
- The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced it wanted to see an additional 2-4 million acre-feet in cuts from the basin states, which led to last month's proposal from Arizona, California and Nevada.
- Arizona takes the biggest share of those cuts — about 1.8 million acre-feet.
Yes, but: So far, no cities have mandated that residents reduce water usage.
- Agriculture, particularly in Pinal County, has taken the brunt of Arizona's cuts so far.
The latest: Gov. Katie Hobbs announced last week the Arizona Department of Water Resources will no longer allow the construction of new housing subdivisions in the Valley if they rely on groundwater.
- State groundwater laws require new subdivisions in six "active management areas" to show they have at least a 100-year supply of water.
- Most cities in the Phoenix area have other water sources, and the policy will affect areas only in the west and southeast Valley.
- The department enacted a similar policy for Pinal County in 2021.
The intrigue: The ongoing crisis led Scottsdale to halt water delivery to the unincorporated community of Rio Verde Foothills at the start of the year.
Residents without wells are still looking for an assured source of water after Hobbs vetoed legislation that would've required Scottsdale to restore service while the community seeks a long-term solution.