Challenges for Water Management in Tucson, Arizona

Abstract

Tucson, AZ is one of the nation's largest cities entirely dependent on groundwater for its water supplies. It faced a 1980 overdraft of over 60% of the area's total groundwater withdrawals. The quality of its diminishing supply also is threatened by various sources of contamination. But important efforts are being made to solve these water problems by municipal conservation, by Arizona's adoption of a stringent new Groundwater Management Act, and by federal settlement of Indian water claims and construction of the Central Arizona Project. The competition among water uses—agricultural, municipal, and industrial—has not been eliminated, but a framework has been established for Tucson to end its overdrafts eventually. However, some major problems have not yet been resolved, including the socioeconomic impacts of water market solutions on Tucson area farmers and Indians, and groundwater contamination (primarily from copper mine tailings and trichloroethylene, TCE). Most importantly, fundamental issues of equity and carrying capacity are raised by the actions needed to provide water for Tucson's explosive growth in the midst of a desert.