Channeling the 20th Century economist Joseph Schumpeter, the federal budget is experiencing “creative disruption” where innovation and technical progress creates “new ways” replacing “old ways” of doing business. While Colorado River interests “freak out” about potential outcomes under DOGE, the Department of the Interior remains “committed to ensuring fiscal responsibility for the American people.”
Arizona’s Colorado River Water Challenge
Arizona is facing a critical water supply challenge. The over-appropriation of the Colorado River requires new water conservation to meet the water demands of economic development in Arizona. With groundwater use reaching its limit in Central Arizona, Arizona’s future economic development faces unprecedented challenges in securing adequate surface water supplies. A case example of these challenges are playing in Buckeye, where, as explained in a recent article in Axios, limited water supplies and resulting challenges have halted development and left some houses stranded (approved but unbuilt).
Meeting surface water supply challenges require institutional reform today.
Hydrowonk breaks down the COVID-19 Economic Recovery for each Colorado River Basin state. Channeling Rod Stewart, “every picture tells a story” regarding the context of the economies of each state in the Colorado River Basin.
Addressing the over-appropriation of the Colorado River requires the Bureau of Reclamation to evolve in its role as “watermaster.” Understandably, the focus over the past decades has been administration of existing water delivery contracts, improved “system operations” and, since the early 2000s, short-term administration of water shortages. Acknowledgement of “long-term” challenges requires “long-term” responses. A three-pronged approach may prove the recipe for success.