Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey spoke Friday at Valley Partnership’s February Morning Breakfast for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began.

Ducey and Valley Partnership President and CEO Cheryl Lombard discussed his priorities for this legislative session – the last of his final term as governor – including investments in Arizona water infrastructure and security, the state’s relationship with Mexico and continued development and economic growth.

Arizona Water Authority

Ducey announced that he supports the creation of an Arizona Water Authority, which will be tasked with developing new water sources for the state as western states experience a nearly two-decade drought. He aims for the state to invest $1 billion in the authority, which he describes as a “once-in-a-generation investment.”

As Arizona’s traditional water sources provide less water each year while the state’s population continues to grow, the state will either need to reduce water use or supplement existing water sources.

Ducey has made it apparent that Arizona will continue to seek innovative water solutions rather than implement water cuts and restrictions. “We use less water today than we did in 1957,” Ducey said. Arizona’s current population is nearly seven times larger than it was in 1957.

The Arizona Water Authority will have the power to construct and own water infrastructure, store water, own and sell water, provide loans and grants, engage in public-private partnerships and negotiate agreements. The authority will not directly operate any water infrastructure.

The authority will have a nine-member board comprised of the director of Environmental Quality, director of Administration, director of Water Resources and six members appointed by the governor to serve staggered five-year terms. Only half of the appointed members can be from the same political party.

“Whomever my successor is will have ample opportunity to ensure water remains abundant in this state,” Ducey said.

Lombard of Valley Partnership says her organization supports Ducey’s efforts to shore up the state’s water supplies. 

“Water is the number one issue discussed by the real estate development community in Arizona – from the assured water supply regulations to the Colorado River shortage,” Lombard said. “Our top priority is to enact policies that will promote responsible economic development and maintain our state’s precious resources.” 

Relationship with Sonora

One such opportunity which has garnered lots of attention is desalination. Desalination has successfully been used in the Middle East by Israel and Persian Gulf states, who pioneered the technology. 

Desalination has traditionally been prohibitively expensive, however improvements in the technology have made the proposal more feasible. The proposal would see desalination plants built in Mexico along with either infrastructure to transport water to Arizona or a cross-border water-sharing agreement.

Relations with Sonora remain strong, despite Sonora Gov. Claudia Pavlovich leaving office. 

Ducey and Pavlovich maintained a strong relationship, improving ties between Arizona and Sonora. 

“That relationship [with Mexico] is at an all-time high,” Ducey said. “We wouldn’t be having the discussions that we’re having now on what’s possible with Mexico on desalination, otherwise.”

In November, С��ñֱ��app spoke with Cheryl Lombard about how real estate developers can play a role in Arizona’s long-term water security.

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Four rural communities across Arizona will be getting much-needed modernization projects for aging drinking water and wastewater infrastructure to improve their drinking water quality and supply and make water usage more efficient in the era of climate change.  

The Trump Administration announced that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $891 million to modernize rural drinking water and wastewater infrastructure in 43 states including Arizona. A total of 220 projects will help improve rural water infrastructure for 787,000 residents in communities with populations of 10,000 or less. 

“When rural America thrives, all of America thrives,” USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Bette Brand said in making the announcement. “Upgrading water infrastructure provides a path to economic growth and protects the health and safety of people who live and work in rural areas.”

In Arizona, aged and failing water systems will be updated in Pine-Strawberry, Mammoth, Bouse and Aguila. The projects are being funded through the federal. The program provides funding for clean and reliable drinking water systems, sanitary sewage disposal, sanitary solid waste disposal, and stormwater drainage to households and businesses in eligible rural areas. 

The projects slated for Arizona are:

Pine-Strawberry water improvement district, Gila County The biggest of the four projects is the Pine-Strawberry Improvement District that is receiving a $22.5 million loan to make improvements to the water system to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency water regulations. Improvements will include the rehabilitation and construction of wells, replacement of six water main projects, a new supervisory control and data acquisition system, and more. 

Mammoth, Pinal County The town of Mammoth is receiving a $500,000 loan for the first phase of construction and improvements to repair and replace failing infrastructure and system deficiencies caused by aging infrastructure and deferred maintenance, and to cure health, sanitation and security issues. Among the improvements will be the replacement of all the asbestos-cement pipelines in the system with new polyvinyl chloride pipelines, installation of new hydropneumatic tanks at town wells, and more. 

Bouse Domestic Water Improvement District, La Paz County A $400,000 loan and a $2.98 million grant will upgrade the Bouse water district’s water system to meet Arizona Department of Environmental Quality standards. Undersized water lines are being replaced with larger ones and the water system upgraded with drive-by meters, a new water treatment system for arsenic removal, a new operations building, a new well, development of a 70,000-gallon water storage tank, and more. 

Aguila water system,  Maricopa County Berry Utilities, Inc. is receiving $953,000 to acquire the Aguila Water Service water system and make repairs and upgrade the system to promote efficiency to avoid having to seek additional water sources, promote water conservation, and continue to provide reliable local service for the community of Aguila, an unincorporated area in Maricopa County. 

A bipartisan group of Arizona congressional members helped secure the legislation that includes more than $25 million for much-needed projects in Arizona. Arizona congressional members who co-sponsored the legislation were senators Kyrsten Sinema (D) and Martha McSally (R) and representatives Raúl Grijalva (D) and Paul Gosar (R).

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As Arizona faces climate change head on, water leaders are taking steps to ensure that development can continue, particularly in the most populous central part of the state. 

Three of the state’s leading water officials spoke about what is being done to sustain growth and other issues important to homebuilders and developers during a virtual “breakfast” meeting of the Valley Partnership, the voice of the real estate industry for the Phoenix region. 

“We are working on solutions that are needed to make sure your industry, other growth, and those who are already here have a secure water supply in the future,” said Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Water Resources Department. 

But Buschatzke and other water leaders also made it clear that the road ahead will be riddled with challenges.

Ted Cooke, general manager of the Central Arizona Project (CAP) that brings Colorado River to the state’s growing megaregion, and Joe Gysel, president of EPCOR USA Inc., which provides water and wastewater services in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, also spoke at the event. 

Among the topics touched on: how Arizona’s Colorado River water supplies are holding up, forecasts for the next few years, and infrastructure projects to support the booming West Valley.

Water supplies should remain stable through 2023

Arizona’s Colorado River water supplies should remain stable for the next two years and likely beyond because of the historic seven-state (DCP) approved by Congress last year, said Buschatzke and Cooke, who led a statewide committee to negotiate Arizona’s part of the agreement. 

“This is more evidence that the Drought Contingency Plan that was approved by the Arizona Legislature and signed by Governor Ducey in early 2019 was a success,” Buschatzke said. 

The DCP lays out measures for water conservation in Lake Mead, which stores Arizona’s river supplies including agreements by water stakeholders like CAP, cities and tribes to leave water in the lake and share excess water with users faced with supplies like Pinal County. 

Because of the DCP, the lake has not dropped to dreaded lower levels. If water levels start to dip lower, the agreement requires the state to take larger reductions in its annual Colorado River allocation. 

To help prevent that from happening, a new higher tier level was created last year, Tier Zero, that requires users to leave a certain amount of water in the lake when the��elevation dips below 1,090 feet. If lake levels continue to drop, more tier levels kick in and more drastic cutbacks to water supplies.

This year, Arizona was under Tier Zero. And even though that required the state’s river  allocation to be reduced by 192,000 acre-feet, that’s good news, explained Cooke. 

Water users already have been leaving an excess of that amount in the lake on an annual basis. 

“The next tier is a 512,000 acre-feet reduction, so we’re actually pleased to be in Tier Zero,” Cooke said. 

Tier Zero will continue in 2021, the federal Department of Reclamation . It is likely the lake will remain in Tier Zero in 2022 and 2023 though there is “real risk” of it moving into the next level down, Tier 1, which starts at 1,075 feet, Cooke said.

Infrastructure projects to keep up with West Valley growth

Gysel of EPCOR, the largest private water company in Arizona, detailed some of the $600 million in investments it is making in Arizona including projects to support the booming West Valley.

One project completed last year is the $29.4 million expansion of the White Tanks Regional Water Treatment Plant in Surprise. The facility’s water output went from 20 million gallons per day to 33 million. The plant’s design incorporates a cutting-edge CoMag ballasted water clarification system, the first of its kind in Arizona.

EPCOR also recently constructed Luke 303, a $95 million water reclamation and wastewater treatment facility along the Loop 303 freeway near Luke Air Force Base.

Keeping up with the state’s growth is the company’s biggest challenge, Gysel said.

“It takes careful planning for infrastructure and water resources to support growth and stay ahead of growth,” he said. 

Looking ahead 

As the three water leaders look ahead, they said there will be more emphasis on conservation, using modern technology to efficiently treat and store wastewater, and efforts to find other water supplies such as desalination of ocean water or Arizona’s brackish groundwater that has a high salt content. The state water department also is conducting groundwater modeling in the Phoenix region to assess supply. 

Water transfers from wetter parts of the state also are an option. Last year, the Gila River Indian Community entered into a $97.5-million, 25-year agreement that allows homebuilders to buy water from the tribe to replenish groundwater in the state’s growing megaregion. 

Meanwhile, water officials and stakeholders are beginning work on the that will be renewed in 2026 to protect the mighty Colorado River, the most important water resource in the Southwest. 

“First and foremost, we need to protect what we have,” Buschatzke said. “Probably 20 percent of our Colorado River allocation comes to Central Arizona.”

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Eight major corporations have contributed more than $1.5 million to shore up Arizona’s dwindling water supplies in a conservation project with the Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) in western Arizona. 

Intel Corp., Microsoft, Cox, The Coca-Cola Foundation, Procter & Gamble, Reformation, Silk, and Swire Coca-Cola, USA are providing the funding as part of the project that was developed through the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan (DCP) negotiations in Arizona. 

The funding builds on prior commitments that now bring the total private and philanthropic funding to over $6 million, or 75 percent, of an $8 million goal to help support the DCP.

The money will help increase water supply reliability in the state that has watched the Colorado River shrink under a decades-long drought, said Todd Reeve, director of Business for Water Stewardship (BWS), who announced the transfer of the funding last week. 

“It’s remarkable to see the business community come together like this—with some of the world’s most successful companies working to ensure that Arizona’s long-term water security remains a priority, ” Reeve said. 

Tribe working to protect environment, economy��

As an original user along the river with senior priority rights, CRIT is a large holder of Colorado River supplies. The tribe has been actively involved in the DCP negotiations to find solutions to reduce future water shortages. 

With funding from the state and the corporate and nonprofit community, the tribe has agreed to conserve up to 150,000 acre-feet of its Colorado River water allocation, which will directly shore up Lake Mead, Arizona’s holding “tank” for Colorado River water.

Keith Moses, vice chairman of the CRIT, said the tribe looks forward to working with the private and public partners to “maximize the environmental and economic value of our federally reserved water rights.”

The funding also supports longer-term CRIT efforts to modernize irrigation systems and conserve water. 

“Our contribution to the DCP was just the beginning of our plan to actively manage our water rights to both provide for our people and to protect and preserve the river,” Moses said. “This is a team effort, and we know we can build upon our successes in the years to come.” 

Nonprofits match funds for water shortage prevention

This newest round of corporate funding is being matched by private philanthropic funds from the Water Funder and the Arizona Community to total over $1.5 million.��

New era of business involvement

The collective funding agreement from corporations and foundations to conserve water is the single largest collaborative effort of its kind in Arizona, Reeve said.

He said this showing of business commitment highlights a new era of water policy, where the business community “not only understands what is at stake, but also chooses to directly drive water solutions that make Arizona a great place to invest, hire, and grow.” 

About Business for Water Stewardship 

Business for Water Stewardship is a program of the Bonneville Environmental Foundation that helps businesses advance solutions to ensure that local communities, economies and ecosystems have enough clean water to flourish. BSW provides ways for businesses to actively help sustain rivers and replenish aquifers, promote forward-looking water policies, and boost their reputations as environmental stewards.

Learn more at  

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Arizona’s engineering masterpiece, the Central Arizona Project (CAP), is celebrating 35 years of delivering Colorado River water to the state’s populous regions. 

The decades-long struggle to get the canal project approved and then built in some of Arizona’s most unforgiving landscape, is legend. But its economic impact cannot be overstated. 

Among the fruits of its labor? The booming Sonoran Corridor megaregion that encompasses metropolitan Phoenix and Tucson. 

“Central Arizona Project is the largest water provider in Arizona. It’s instrumental in bringing over half of Arizona’s entitlement of Colorado into Central and Southern Arizona where, with few exceptions, there’s not a lot of surface water,” General Manager Ted Cooke said during a episode celebrating the anniversary and the amazing feat of construction.  

Since making its first water delivery in 1985 to farmers in the Harquahala Valley Irrigation District west of downtown Phoenix, the winding canal has generated more than $2 trillion for the state’s economy, according to an conducted by the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

Today, the canal system’s water deliveries generate approximately $100 billion annually into the state’s economy.��

CAP’s supply of water to its customers in 2017 alone is estimated at annual employment of nearly 1.6 million jobs.

The top five sectors that have benefited most since CAP’s water deliveries began are government, healthcare, real estate and travel, retail and construction, the ASU analysis shows.  

Decades of struggle to get congressional approval 

Prior to CAP, inland farmers had been using precious groundwater, so the ability to use surface water supplies was important not only for them, but for the entire state. The first delivery heralded a new era for water use and sustainability.

Efforts to get the project approved started in the mid 1940s, Cooke said. Arizona finally succeeded in 1968. But not without a cost. It had to agree to hold only “junior” priority rights to the river, meaning it suffers deeper cuts in water supplies than other states when shortages occur.

Engineers from ‘70s and ‘80s ahead of their time 

Finally, in 1973, CAP construction began just outside of Lake Havasu. It took 12 years to build the first 100 miles of the canal system through unforgiving landscape, including drilling through 22 miles of Buckskin Mountain. 

“It meanders — on purpose — over those many miles to take advantage of the terrain,” Cooke said. “Sometimes the canal has to be above the ground and sometimes it has to be below ground with less than 5 inches per minute of decline before it has to be pumped again to take advantage of the natural terrain to get the water to move.

“It’s an engineering marvel that was done in the 1970s and early 1980s. It just boggles the mind.”

Water policy leadership role   

CAP has also been a major player and influencer in water decisions including a leading role in the seven-state-and-Mexico drought contingency plan (DCP) by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Donald Trump last year. 

At the time, the state was facing a water crisis with the mighty river diminishing under the heat of a 19-year drought, the longest in Arizona recorded history. 

The legally-binding DCP requires water holders like CAP to cut back on water supplies and store up water in the river’s two main holding “tanks,” Lake Mead and Lake Powell. 

CAP and its governing board, the Central Arizona Water Conservation District, contributed leadership, funding and expertise to push the legislation through. 

Cooke and Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke, co-led the wieldy, often contentious, 40-member statewide steering committee of competing water interests that was charged with negotiating Arizona’s piece of the DCP.

With the DCP in place, a water crisis for the Southwest was averted. Now, state leaders are starting to prepare for the next DCP in 2026, and to find other ways to shore up water for the future. To view more about this engineering marvel, go to:

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Dr. Joaquín Ruiz is a professor of geosciences at the University of Arizona, endowed by the Thomas R. Brown Foundations. He also serves as vice president of Global Environmental Futures and director of Biosphere 2, a project of UArizona. Last, but not least, Ruiz serves as co-chair of the Mining Committee at the Arizona-Mexico Commission.

From day to day, Ruiz manages Biosphere 2 and its many unique, powerful environmental experiments, and he also spends a lot of time educating both his students and the public about the environment, especially as it pertains to food growth, water usage and mining.

С��ñֱ��app spoke with Ruiz about his work and his recent time as a board member of the Arizona-Mexico Commission. Read the full interview below.

Question: What do you do in your day-to-day work?

Answer: Managing Biosphere is one; but finding connections between the powerful environmental programs of the U of A with international partners — or national partners — I spend a lot of time doing that.

Q: Can you tell me more about ?

A: If you think about Biosphere 2, it has four components.

The first component [of the Biosphere] is the experiments that go inside the glass.

Right now, for example, we have an experiment on the fate of rainforests as they dry up, because as global climate change progresses, we worry that many of the big rainforests are going to be drying out; there’s going to be less rain.

The second [experiment] is: How do we protect corals? Again, as the temperature of the ocean warms up and the waters become more acidic, many corals are dying, and our interest is that corals are fundamental for the well-being of a lot of people in the world — either for tourism or because of fisheries.

The third [experiment] is: We have a big program in the fate of water in the Southwest as, again, climate changes. And, of course, our vegetation is going to change because of that, so the mass balance of water is going to be very different. So, there are huge experiments that cannot be done anywhere else.

The second part of the Biosphere is: We get about 100,000 tourists that show up every year, and we want to educate them about the environment.

The third part of the Biosphere is: We have a conference center in there, which we’re trying to develop into something like the of the Environment; not with Aspen, but that kind of concept.

And the fourth [part of the Biosphere] is that it’s an icon that we can then use to connect these partnerships.

I have three partnerships that are being worked on extensively right now. One of them is: ‘How do we make Mexico City more sustainable?’ We have a huge project with Mexico City, and we chose Mexico City because the partnerships we have there are great. And if we get Mexico City to be more sustainable, then we’ve done something at scale that can be then introduced to other big cities, like São Paulo, [Brazil], or Lagos, [Nigeria].

The second project that we have is a binational partnership — again with Mexico — to study the effects of climate change in semiarid environments, broadly speaking. So, we have groups between Mexican institutions and U of A institutions trying to understand a variety of issues that come from those changes in the desert, including mining, which is an important part of it.

We have a project that we’re developing, supported by the Jewish National Fund, creating a binational institute between the U of A — through the Biosphere — and a region in Israel called the Arabah, which is in southern Israel, in a region called the Negev Desert, which is one of the driest deserts [in the world].

And these folks have amazing water technology [in Israel]. They basically grow food in rocks with salty water; it’s just the most incredible thing. That’s a partnership we’re developing. And we have other things that we can offer to them, like growing mushrooms and other stuff that they don’t have, so it’s a great partnership. And, of course, education is in the middle of it, with students coming and going.

Q: When did you first get involved with the Arizona-Mexico Commission, and in what capacity?

A: I’ve gone to a variety of meetings, but then I was added to the board I’d say about four years ago. I’m now a board member of the Arizona-Mexico Commission, and I’m also the co-chair of the Mining Committee of the Arizona-Mexico Commission.

Q: What do you do with the Mining Committee?

A: What we’re always trying to find is ways to look for what makes us special in mining and how we can leverage that to create programs in which more mining companies would come in — or the industry that supports mining companies, like Komatsu or Caterpillar.

How do you approach all of the industry that surrounds mining, including making sure that mining is sustainable — which is a big deal now — and responsible? It’s always been responsible, but it’s basically more sustainable. And how do you do all that?

The mining industry is more and more interested in sustainable operations, not only because it’s good for the bottom line, but because it’s good for the environment and the people that work in mining. I’m spending a lot of time thinking about those kinds of things.

Q: How do you feel your unique expertise in environmental science and geology help the Arizona-Mexico Commission accomplish its goals in the mining sector?

A: One of them is simply personal. I was born in Mexico City, and I got my first degree there, and I know a lot of people — including people from the mining sector in Mexico — very, very well. So, the personal touch is important.

Secondly, I’m a geologist, so I’ve been working as a professor with many of my students doing research in ore deposits — in Mexico, in particular; in other parts of the world, too.

So, I understand the needs of the mining industry very well. I can speak the language, and there’s [the] trust and the connectivity that the AMC really is all about; I think I fit the bill in all those categories.

Q: What would you say is one of your most notable memories during the time that you’ve been with the AMC?

A: The various meetings in which our governor and the governor of Sonora clearly have a joint vision for the region. I’ve been quite impressed by that.

I was also fortunate to be [on] the very first trip that [Gov. Doug Ducey] took to Mexico City, and the recognition of how important [it is to have] a common vision with our neighbor… it’s been terrific.

If it hadn’t been for the AMC and its leadership, which, of course, includes the governor, I think, with all the narrative in both countries about what’s going on — if it wasn’t for the AMC and the governor and the governor of Sonora, who knows what kind of pickle we would be in, really?

Q: How has your work with the Arizona-Mexico Commission, and your other cross-border work, shaped your view of the Arizona-Mexico relationship?

A: Most of my relationship [with Mexico] before I joined the AMC was academic. I’ve been a professor all my life, and even though I’ve been working with [the] mining industry, it’s been through science research projects. And the AMC has broadened my view about the importance of the business part of it, which then allows me to be more effective in what I’m trying to do in these connections.

Q: In your opinion, what is the value of that relationship and fostering collaboration between Arizona and Mexico?

A: We speak highly of the business that we do across our border, and we cannot forget that a very large part of that is actually mining. So, there are a couple of issues: one of them is truly the importance of mining to our economy — we tend to forget that; secondly, the issues that the mining companies have to address to be successful in their business — and more and more there are environmental issues that are part of it.

All those things that, before, I was only dimly aware of, I am fully aware of now. My connection with them in the past was simply helping [the mining industry] find more ore, but now my view of the industry is way more holistic, and [I’m aware of] all of the issues that they need to address, not only simply finding more ore.

Q: In what ways do you feel you’ve seen the AMC grow or expand its scope since you’ve been involved?

A: Even in those four years, I can see the AMC — from the beginning, when I got on, to now — it is a much more effective entity, with clear directions and committees and subcommittees, and you can see that specifically when you go to these AMC conventions. And, I think that every year that I’ve been to one of these, they’ve been better — they’ve been more focused…

They’ve come up with important issues; there’s follow-up on them. So, it’s a much more effective organization than when I started in it.

Q: Is there a recent achievement, project or event that you want to share?

A: I think the most important one would be — there’s a mining company in Mexico called . They’re the largest silver producer in the world, and they’re listed in the . They’ve become more and more interested in Arizona through the University of Arizona, and they are more and more interested in sustainable mining.

And that, I think, would not have happened without two things: one of them, some of the programs at the U of A; but secondly, without the interest of the AMC, and [the AMC] allowing me to use that to have conversations with this company.

This is an exact transcript, but minor changes have been made for clarity.

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Central Arizona Project, the engineering marvel that delivers water throughout much of Arizona, held a behind-the-scenes tour this week to offer system stakeholders and members of the media a rare opportunity to descend into the temporarily empty canal for an up-close look at preventive maintenance on the Salt River Siphon.

The siphon is an 8,700-foot-long pipe, 21 feet in diameter, that runs as deep as 30 feet beneath a portion of the Salt River, carrying approximately 75 percent of all CAP water deliveries. The siphon sits approximately half-way along the length of the CAP system.

The siphon is responsible for a $90 billion contribution to the Arizona economy, according to CAP.

Gravity carries water through the siphon beneath the Salt River, and the water’s momentum takes it back to the surface as it flows to the Salt Gila Pumping Plant in Mesa.

Maintenance began Oct. 30, 2019 and included a partial recoating of the siphon to help protect against corrosion and erosion — the first recoating since 2001. Similar maintenance is expected to take place again in eight to 10 years.

CAP Board President Lisa Atkins said she thanked Salt River Project and the cities of Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler and Tucson for their assistance and collaboration in preparing for the partial service outage resulting from the maintenance project. Storage was maximized downstream from the Salt Gila Pumping Plant in preparation for the disruption.

“Without them working so closely with us — with CAP staff — on the planning phases of this project, today would not be possible,” Atkins said.

CAP General Manager Ted Cooke said planning for the six-week project began more than three years ago.

“It worked the way it was supposed to,” Cooke said of the steps taken to prepare customers and store enough water to avoid disrupting water delivery during the maintenance. Cooke said CAP’s contractors on the project worked round-the-clock in order to finish the project on schedule.

In addition to the Salt River Siphon, CAP maintains nine other siphons that run beneath the Agua Fria, New, Gila and Santa Cruz rivers.

With Salt River Siphon maintenance complete, regular water deliveries resumed Wednesday.

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The Drought Contingency Plan takes center stage in a new television advertisement that just hit the Phoenix market.

The 30-second spot features Arizona state Sen. Sine Kerr, R-Buckeye, discussing the importance of the DCP’s passage to Arizona. It was produced by the United States С��ñֱ��app of Commerce with support from the Arizona С��ñֱ��app of Commerce and Industry.

The Arizona Legislature passed the DCP in January to manage future Colorado River allocations and stave off federal intervention in Arizona’s water management strategy. Congress authorized the plan’s implementation in April.

In the ad, Kerr asks voters to thank U.S. Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., for her leadership in passing the DCP in Congress.

“Martha McSally led the effort to pass the Drought Contingency Plan, keeping the water flowing and Arizona growing,” Kerr said in the ad.

Kerr said it is not common for legislation to pass through Congress as quickly as the DCP.

“I know that Sen. McSally was a champion for us in Congress and the Senate, and it went through Congress in record time,” Kerr said. “She was instrumental in that, and I’m just very proud of the work she did on DCP.”

Kerr, a Buckeye dairy farmer for nearly 40 years, said she did not hesitate when asked to appear in the ad.

“Water’s life… to farmers, to everyone,” she said. “No matter what you do, no matter where you live, water touches your life every single day.”

Water is particularly vital to Kerr and her district, which includes wide swaths of rural Western Arizona.

“We’ve made great strides to conserve water behind Lake Mead, and we already are seeing that it’s working,” Kerr said. “It’s great to see that progress, but we’re always looking ahead.”

Kerr said one of her main concerns is ensuring the water supply is secure for future generations.

“That’s really important to me, not only as a legislator but as a dairy-business owner,” she said. “We think in generations; we don’t just think the next few years. With that in mind, that’s how we look ahead is for the future generations.”

Kerr is the chair of the state Senate Water and Agriculture Committee.

This latest ad follows that aired in the Phoenix market, supported by the Arizona С��ñֱ��app and Arizona Manufacturers Council. featured Manufacturers Council Chair Dawn Grove and highlighted McSally’s advocacy for the proposed United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on North American trade.

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Congress overwhelmingly approved a crucial drought contingency plan Monday to save the Colorado River, the most important water resource in the Southwest.

Two members of Arizona’s congressional delegation led a bipartisan effort to rush the legislation through both houses. With impressive speed, U.S. Senator Martha McSally (R) and U.S. Representative Raúl M. Grijalva (D) introduced the legislation in both houses where it moved to passage on both floors, all in one week.

There was no time to waste. The seven-state-and-Mexico agreement is a major interim step in protecting Colorado River water supplies that are vanishing under the most oppressive, longstanding drought in recorded history.

Now, the legislation is on its way to President Donald Trump for his signature.

Arizona congressional duo leads the way

During the Senate floor debate Monday, McSally spoke of the bipartisan cooperation and immediate support among the senators from the seven states. On the floor, McSally asked for and received unanimous consent to pass the legislation, called the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan (DCP) Authorization Act.

“The passage of the DCP authorization today showcases how Congress should work: a large, bipartisan effort where we all sprang into action to deliver real results for Arizonans and the American people,” McSally said. “Arizonans want to see action and results, not political games. I am proud to lead my colleagues to authorize the DCP and look forward to seeing the President sign the bill into law.”

Earlier in the day, the House also overwhelmingly approved the DCP bill by a voice vote, expediting passage and avoiding procedural hurdles to get the bill to President Trump’s desk as fast as possible.

Grijalva, chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, said that this is the start of a new era for Arizona and other states that must plan carefully for the future of water in the Southwest.

“This bill is a central piece of conservation for the drought that has made our area more arid and made water more precious and more finite,” Grijalva said.

Drought plan will avert a water crisis��

The legislation binds the seven states, Mexico, and water holders within the states to conserve water in the river’s two storage lakes, Lake Powell and Lake Mead.

While the seven-state agreement, called the Upper and Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan (DCP), took years to get in place, Congress did not have that luxury.

The DCP needs to be in operation this summer to avert a water crisis, states and federal water leaders told Congress during hearings last week.

The river’s two massive storage lakes are disappearing from excessive drought. The elevations of the lakes, which are the two largest man-made reservoirs in the United States, have dropped fourfold in the last decade, Commissioner Brenda Burman of the federal Bureau of Reclamation testified during the hearings.

“The period from 2000 through 2018 is the driest 19-year period in over 100 years and one of the driest periods in the 1,200-year paleo record,” she said.

Without the DCP, the lakes will likely drop to crisis levels by 2021 or 2022. With the DCP in place, that risk will be reduced 50 percent, Burman said.

Lake Powell serves the four upper basin states: Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The lower basin states, Arizona, California and Nevada, rely on Lake Mead.

The bill and underlying drought plan agreement lay out water reduction, storage and conservation management strategies to avoid historic lows of the lake reservoirs.

Short respite for water leaders

The new legislation will provide a stopgap to protect water elevations at the two lakes through 2026. Then a new DCP must be approved. Arizona and other water leaders already are starting to work to that end.

“It is essential. It is vital and what it means to a state like Arizona where the population continues to grow, whose demands from industry continue to grow, whose demands for water for agriculture continue to grow,” Grijalva said. “We have to make some choices down the line. They’re unavoidable but they are necessary for the generations to come, for our state and the people who reside there and their families.”

The DCP legislation received widespread support from the development community, industry, agriculture, cities, tribes, national conservation groups, non-profits, and many others. Everyone agreed to either share or conserve water to protect future supplies.

In Arizona, few worked as hard as Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, and Ted Cooke, General Manager of the Central Arizona Project.

They co-chaired a committee of representatives from 40 competing water interests to craft Arizona’s part of the seven-state pact.

“The last few weeks have been one of the most extraordinary periods in the history of ADWR and a remarkable chapter in the long story of securing Arizona’s water supplies,” Buschatzke said Monday, adding that he is grateful Congress approved the Act that will prevent Lake Mead from dipping to crisis levels.

Numerous local, state, tribal and federal officials issued statements of support for the legislation during the past week including Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey. Ducey was instrumental in bringing competing Arizona water interests and funding together to finalize the DCP.

“Securing our water future is one of the most important issues we face,” Gov. Doug Ducey said. “Earlier this year, Arizona showed we know how to get big things done by coming together to pass the historic Drought Contingency Plan – allowing Arizona to join the other basin states on a comprehensive plan to conserve more water.”

Arizona’s entire congressional delegation and the Western Caucus lent their support and applauded Monday’s action. Read some of their comments at: .

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As promised, two Arizona congressional members rushed to introduce bipartisan legislation Tuesday for the ratification of a seven-state drought contingency plan to protect the shrinking Colorado River.

At the same time, seven national conservation groups voiced support and urged quick ratification of the legislation.

“Declining reservoirs threaten water supplies that are essential to the economy, environment, and health of the southwestern United States,” states a letter to congress from groups including The Nature Conservancy, American Rivers, Environmental Defense Fund and the National Audubon Society. “Now is the time we all must work together for the sake of the future of the Basin. Therefore, it is critical that we support the goals of the DCP (drought contingency plan) agreements in both basins and urge your support for these agreements.”

Broad bipartisan support

Arizona’s Sen. Martha McSally (R) and Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D) took the lead in Congress, introducing the legislation Tuesday in both houses, less than a week after they held the first hearings on the bill.

Sen. McSally noted that the legislation was developed in a bipartisan, bicameral manner to ensure that the DCP – that was forged between the seven Colorado River Basin states, Indian tribes and Mexico – can be implemented without delay while fully respecting important environmental protections in the process.

Entitled the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan Authorization Act, the legislation has unanimous support from Arizona’s congressional delegation.

“The DCP is a state-driven solution to ensure that we continue to provide drinking water to 40 million Americans, irrigation for 5.5 million acres of farmland, and more than 4,000 megawatts of carbon-free hydropower to communities across the West,” Sen. McSally said in a prepared statement, adding that she will work to “get it urgently signed into law.”

Grijalva also vowed quick ratification.

“States worked together, and now it’s time for Congress to work together and finish this process while we still have time,” Rep. Grijalva said in a written statement. “The House will move this bill quickly and the Senate should follow suit. Any foot-dragging or needless delay is going to worsen an already risky situation for the millions of people who rely on Colorado River water every day.”

No time to waste

The agreement reached between the seven states, called the Upper and Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan (DCP), took years to get in place. Now, Congress must act quickly. The DCP needs to be in operation this summer to avert a water crisis.

The river’s two massive storage lakes – Lake Powell and Lake Mead – are disappearing from excessive drought. The elevations of the lakes, which are the two largest man-made reservoirs in the United States, have dropped fourfold in the last decade, Commissioner Brenda Burman of the federal Bureau of Reclamation testified during last week’s hearings.

“The period from 2000 through 2018 is the driest 19-year period in over 100 years and one of the driest periods in the 1,200-year paleo record,” she said.

Without the DCP, the lakes will likely drop to crisis levels by 2021 or 2022. With the DCP in place, that risk will be reduced 50 percent, Burman said.

Lake Powell serves the four upper basin states: Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The lower basin states, Arizona, California and Nevada, rely on Lake Mead.

The bill and underlying drought plan agreement lay out water reduction, storage and conservation management strategies to avoid historic lows of the lake reservoirs.

Everyone came together to avert crisis

Numerous local, state, tribal and federal officials issued statements of support for the legislation including Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey. Ducey was instrumental in bringing competing Arizona water interests together to finalize the DCP.

“Securing our water future is one of the most important issues we face,” Gov. Doug Ducey said. “Earlier this year, Arizona showed we know how to get big things done by coming together to pass the historic Drought Contingency Plan – allowing Arizona to join the other basin states on a comprehensive plan to conserve more water.”

“Now, it’s Congress’ turn to move DCP forward. My thanks to Senator Martha McSally and Representative Raúl Grijalva for their leadership and urgency and to all members of Arizona’s delegation for making this issue a priority. Let’s show the country we can still work together to do the things that matter. Let’s get this done.”

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