Having lived in Arizona for a few years and worked in the renewable energy industry there, I always found it surprising no long term planning on anyone’s part is done when designing a water-intensive project especially in the big cities. The problem is that water will still always flow through Phoenix, whether it’s the Colorado River or even more canal projects from other states, and rural folks will always drill deeper for water. It’s not a problem that there isn’t water it’s just the accessibility of the groundwater and how saline it is. The previous governor, Ducey, even suggested the state invest in desalination tech. The surface manifestations (ie earth fissures) of GW withdrawal are obvious but humans find a way to engineer around it or in some cases of Arizona desert they just don’t build there.
Having lived in Arizona for a few years and worked in the renewable energy industry there, I always found it surprising no long term planning on anyone’s part is done when designing a water-intensive project especially in the big cities. The problem is that water will still always flow through Phoenix, whether it’s the Colorado River or even more canal projects from other states, and rural folks will always drill deeper for water. It’s not a problem that there isn’t water it’s just the accessibility of the groundwater and how saline it is. The previous governor, Ducey, even suggested the state invest in desalination tech. The surface manifestations (ie earth fissures) of GW withdrawal are obvious but humans find a way to engineer around it or in some cases of Arizona desert they just don’t build there.