Water is dull

Water is Dull

By Craig A. Wilson, Water Management Director Water is flat, without shape or sharp edges, without texture; it is just wet. Water can dance, twist and turn or sit for days without moving. Water can sparkle and in many case it is clear – crystal clear. Water can be placid, but not here. Here, water is for fighting, it has been so for a long time. There is nothing dull about water.

Long before I moved to Arizona, Arizonans, while still bickering, came together to create the Department of Water Resources right after enacting the landmark 1980 Groundwater Management Act (GMA). Most of Arizona embraced the GMA for it created a framework for managing the state’s water resources; to go beyond waiting for the next rain to flood the field because the well ran dry. Since 1980, ADWR has resolved many century-old issues and is now getting close to clearing up just who has what rights to the water that surrounds us, as if one could be surrounded by water in a desert. Those fights are gone, well almost gone. We can now employ/enjoy our water rights because we know where the water belongs.

Some places, both within Arizona and across the river, have never resolved those issues. Water has been taken, taken from places where it would not be replenished. When that groundwater is gone and only surface water is left, what happens when the rains do not come? Then the use of water can only be curtailed. The GMA has forced Arizonans to conserve water and that means there is water available when the rains do not come; conserve not curtail.

Are we prepared? The recent series of articles in the Arizona Republic resolved that Arizona is prepared. Arizona has a plan, called Safe-Yield, which limits taking more water than can be replenished, a plan for storing water in the aquafer, for not building where water is not available, for managing the crops that grow in Arizona and for moving water where it is needed. Dobson Ranch also participates in conserving water. Collectively, we have reduced the amount of water used for irrigation. The turf we have is for fun and is an important part of childhood development.

Individually, water use in the home is declining. And turf is being relegated to our backyards.

Water use on the Ranch has declined thanks to our collective water conservation efforts. Water conservation is paying off.

We, well maybe not me, but a good many people fought long and hard to resolve the issues swirling around water. As in the song young Apache children sing “We are blessed with water, A gift of life.” Water continues to be abundant to those who use it wisely.