The Daily Agenda: Planning a desert oasis

Tucson’s water plan is set … Changes will take time … Farm animals coming to Oro Valley.

A few decades ago, Tucsonans pumped so much groundwater that the Santa Cruz River ran dry and the earth beneath buildings became less-than-steady — kind of like what’s happening in Cochise County right now.

Today, Tucson has shifted almost completely from pumping groundwater to using Colorado River water, which the city gets through the Central Arizona Project canals and deposits in reservoirs in the Avra Valley west of Tucson.

But as you may have heard, the Colorado River isn’t the stable supply it once was.

That’s where Tucson’s One Water 2100 plan, which the city council approved last week, is meant to come in.

Basically, the goal of the plan is to make Tucson less reliant on the Colorado River, which is far and away its main source of water. The city will still use water from the river for the foreseeable future, but the plan points the way to creating a “sustainable oasis” using more recycled water and more water harvesting, while continuing to store groundwater.

The city’s stored groundwater acts as a savings account of sorts. Every year, the city leaves one-third of its share of Colorado River water in reservoirs, so even if the river went dry tomorrow, Tucsonans would still have several years worth of water.

Still, until Tucson finds another source of water or dramatically rethinks how it consumes water, the city’s fate is largely tied to the river’s. City council members constantly keep their eye on the Colorado River, particularly last year when water levels in Lake Mead dropped drastically.

The crisis that came with the dropping water levels showed how precarious water rights can be. Officials from Arizona and other states that use Colorado River water spent months negotiating, alongside federal officials, over who should bear the brunt of any cuts in water supply. They eventually reached a deal in which Arizona and two other states gave up some of their water rights for the next few years in exchange for $1.2 billion.

So the question for Tucson’s city council is how much the city should depend on the Colorado River, given the effects of climate change and the political battles that must be waged to keep the city’s share of river water.

Under the One Water plan, the city will stay on top of the negotiations about who gets to use Colorado River water, but they also established a wide array of goals.

Some of those goals focus on protecting and augmenting the water we’ve already got. City officials want to work with state agencies to ensure groundwater isn’t contaminated, study how other cities have gotten their residents to use recycled water, and work with Pima County to develop large-scale stormwater projects, for example.

The plan also deals with the other side of the equation: how to get people to use less water with things like smart meters and desert-adapted landscaping.

But like with a lot of well-intentioned plans, pulling off a significant shift in the way Tucson consumes, and conserves, water will be much easier said than done.

Now that the Tucson City Council approved the One Water 2100 plan, it seems like an opportune time to write about Tucson’s water policies. There is a lot to tell and we know many of our readers are interested in it, so we’re going to write about local water policies at least a few times in the coming weeks.

Best of all, we’re going to break it up into bite-size pieces so we don’t cram too much into a single newsletter.

We’ve got our eye on ordinances that cover greywater and rainwater harvesting. If you have another aspect of Tucson’s water policy you want us to explore, send an email to curt@tucsonagenda.com or leave a comment.

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No vacancy: The Rio Nuevo board regained two Tucson board members Friday, filling all authorized seats for the first time in a decade, the Arizona Daily Star’s Gabriela Rico reports. Gov. Katie Hobbs removed some longtime members last week in order to appoint Democrats and create a bipartisan board, retaining only independent board member Fletcher McCusker. On Friday, Republicans in the Legislature reappointed two members removed by Hobbs, Edmund Marquez and Jannie Cox. The board is scheduled to meet tomorrow.

Water woes: The Center for Biological Diversity is asking the Arizona Department of Water Resources to cut down on its use of groundwater in Sierra Vista’s depleting Upper San Pedro River Basin, Arizona Public Media’s Katya Mendoza reports. The reductions the center is asking for would apply to groundwater wells and certificates in the area and would assure a 100-year water supply, with the group raising concerns about how the department has treated water users in Sierra Vista have unfairly.

Window closing: The public comment period for a proposed road through a section of the Coronado National Forest near Nogales to be used by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection is closing at 9 p.m. tonight, the Tucson Sentinel’s Paul Ingram writes. The Holden Canyon Connector Road Project is seeking to improve, repair and construct nearly 13 miles of unpaved road, and decommission nearly 4 miles of unpaved roads in Pima and Santa Cruz counties.

No farm, no fowl: The Oro Valley Town Council is considering a draft zoning code amendment that would allow for residents to keep small farm animals on residential lots that are 20,000 square feet or more, Tucson Local Media’s Dave Perry writes.The amendment would allow chickens, ducks, rabbits, miniature goats, potbellied pigs, turkeys and beehives, but not roosters, other male fowl and hogs. The town council will discuss the proposal during a Nov. 1 study session and hold a public hearing on Dec. 5.

Election insights: An assistant professor at the University of Arizona says Latino voters are likely to consider inflation, stagnant wages, soaring healthcare costs and immigration key issues in the 2024 election, writes UA News’ Logan Burtch-Buus. Professor Lisa M. Sanchez said the Latino vote is gaining influence in American politics, which has been especially apparent during the last two presidential elections. While Latino voter turnout hasn’t reached parity with other races and ethnicities, it’s undergone significant changes, which Sanchez outlines in a Q&A with Burtch-Buus.

“I think many Latinos are disaffected with the current political system. In the past four or even eight years, Latinos have experienced extreme hardship with little tailored response to their needs,,” Sanchez said. “While the economy always looms large in elections, issues related to employment equity, social safety nets and economic inequality may take center stage for Latinos.”

28: The daily high-temperature records set or matched so far this year in Tucson, including a high of 98 degrees on Saturday.