PHOENIX — House Democrats are balking at ratifying a proposed drought contingency plan over what they see as a key missing element.
Minority Leader Charlene Fernandez said Thursday many of her members question why there’s nothing in the proposal to require more water conservation.
Instead, it is more focused on finding ways to move water around, particularly to meet the needs of Pinal County farmers.
“But I do think it’s doable.
Conservation is something that’s important.” She also pointed out that the package lawmakers are being asked to approve involves more than changing state water laws.
There’s also money involved, with the state coming up with cash both to buy water from the Colorado River Indian Tribes as well as to help Pinal County farmers drill new wells to replace some river water they’ll lose.
“If we’re going to put money into this, and we’re talking about millions … and we could be on the hook for more, we need to get exactly what we want,” Fernandez said.
The last time Arizona and other states made projections was in 2007.
Using data for the past 100 years they figured the chance of Lake Mead hitting critical shortage by 2026 was less than 10 percent.
But here’s the thing: Once you look at more recent data only — specifically the last 30 years when the Southwest has been in an historic drought — continuing to withdraw water at this rate increases the chance of the lake falling to critical levels to more than 40 percent.