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| Central Arizona Project |
At the RV resort in Tucson, the weekly Lecture Series has begun. Today's lecture was the Central Arizona Project (CAP). These lectures are seasonal, when the RV resort is very full.
Both G and I attended the lecture. It was informative and relevant.
I'll put a few of the slides in this post. The last slide includes website URLs for those who want more information.
The Central Arizona Project is about water management. A number of states share in the water from the Colorado River. The project is about the involvement of states in that sharing. It is also about how Arizona manages the water it receives.
There are reasons to be optimistic. However, there are also serious problems, some political. For example, Arizona is doing a very good job of managing the water under the auspices of the CAP.
California, always big on talk, isn't doing so well. This is creating water stress in rural areas of Arizona, where California companies, such as nut growers, are moving. They sell the land in CA, vacate California and then buy land in Arizona to raise their crops. This is not a solution.
The current multi-state agreement about water sharing will expire in 2026. It remains to be seen to what extent California will cooperate in the formation of a new agreement of water sharing between the states.
Ariona is currently looking at a variety of means to increase the potable water available in the central area of the state. Methods include desalination because some groundwater in AZ is brackish. California has been slow to adapt such methods, despite the ample coastline and access to the Pacific Ocean. Here's a recent article about one CA project:
I include the above article to illustrate the problem in CA. It is easier to leave the state and grow pistachios in Arizona. Of course, that puts additional stress on AZ groundwater sources. Growing such crops is very inefficient in water use.
