Mohave Daily News: Local

Cronkite News Service

PHOENIX - Proposed legislation that includes giving rural communities the power to stop developments lacking assured water is “good public policy” that will help put planning before growth, Arizona's top water official said Wednesday.

“We allow growth to occur without a water supply, and to me that just isn't common sense,” Herb Guenther, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, said in an interview with Cronkite News Service.

“The good policy would be to get out in front and plan for that growth rather than get in a crisis situation,” Guenther said. “Smart growth is growth that's planned for.”

Most rural areas aren't held to the same water standards as more urban areas such as metropolitan Phoenix, Tucson and Prescott, which are in active management areas. State law requires new developments in active management areas to prove a 100-year assured water supply. There is no such requirement outside those areas.

In developments outside of active management areas, only the first buyer of a home must be told of an inadequate water supply. Subsequent buyers don't have to be told.

The Statewide Water Advisory Group sent proposals to the Legislature earlier this month that include: allowing communities to adopt water adequacy standards used in active management areas; creating a loan fund to help improve rural water systems; and forcing home sellers to disclose inadequate water supplies to all future buyers.

Guenther said the recommendations would help rural communities plan for growth rather than respond to it.

“We've got to be smart about water,” Guenther said. “Whether it be a 100-year supply or a 20-year supply, the fact is that if you don't have that water you have got to find something to replace it. It's good public policy if you plan not only for the existing population but for the future population.”

Guenther said he's convinced the ocean eventually will supply water not only for Arizona but for the world. Desalination technology has improved and the cost of desalinating water has come down to the point where Arizona is studying the potential of seawater and talking with California and Mexico, he said.

Even with improved technology, desalinated seawater would be more expensive for consumers, and a system to desalinate and deliver seawater wouldn't come cheap, he said.

In the meantime, consumers, particularly those in rural areas, can expect to pay more for water as communities strain to meet their needs, Guenther said.

“We're spoiled because we have always have had a plentiful and inexpensive supply,” Guenther said. “Now as sources get stretched and cheap water is no longer readily available, we have to go to more expensive supplies.”