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As County leaders, we must protect our region. Our quality of life is directly connected to our commitment to build a tomorrow that preserves the best of today. This vision includes protecting our natural resources, utilizing our county’s resources in a fiscally-smart manner, and wisely planning for our future. Thank you for standing with us.
Our County’s Water Future Deserves a Plan, Not a Gamble
Verifying long-range water supplies before authorizing additional demand on groundwater resources is a growing trend as policymakers grapple with the likelihood of drier decades to come.
The latest step in this direction is in Arizona, where state leaders announced that new housing construction will not be approved in the rapidly expanding Phoenix suburbs for developers who rely solely on groundwater to demonstrate their required 100-year water supply.
To gain approval, developers may show the availability of alternative water sources such as reused water or surface water.
Arizona reports that it has nearly 5-million-acre feet in unmet water needs over the next century.
This step is like one recently taken by Colorado Springs, which now requires its water utility to have 128 percent of demand on hand before it can annex additional territory into its service area.
The most challenging task for a policymaker is to gaze into the future and ensure today’s decisions serve tomorrow’s needs.
The trick -- since they don’t hand out crystal balls with election certifications – is to thoroughly study and understand the available facts now while creating a policy framework that outlives the whims of personnel and election changes.
An open and transparent assessment of Douglas County’s current water assets, along with expected long-range demand trends, is a common-sense and wise policy move.
There is no downside to more data, which will help policy makers be smart stewards to protect a world-class quality of life for future generations.
Recent Headlines
Drought, water overuse prompt Arizona to limit construction in some fast-growing parts of Phoenix
Arizona will not approve new housing construction on the fast-growing edges of metro Phoenix that rely on groundwater thanks to years of overuse and a multi-decade drought worsened by climate change
PHOENIX — Arizona will not approve new housing construction on the fast-growing edges of metro Phoenix that rely on groundwater thanks to years of overuse and a multi-decade drought that is sapping its water supply.
In a news conference Thursday, Gov. Katie Hobbs announced the restrictions that could affect some of the fastest-growing suburbs of the nation's fifth-largest city.
Despite strong 2023 snowpack, expert says permanent Colorado River reductions still needed
... Udall set the scene for the 43rd Annual Colorado Law Conference on Natural Resources at CU-Boulder. This year's conference, focusing on Colorado River "short-term solutions to long-term sustainability," brought together a who's who of western water, law, tribal representatives, and federal officials. That includes Touton and Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Denver.
Udall blames some of the enthusiasm over this year's snowpack to amnesia.
"We've had good years since 2000, but we just don't have them in the frequency we need," he said.
Vegas water agency empowered to limit home water flows in future
LAS VEGAS -- Nevada has taken a dramatic, but not immediate, step toward limiting the amount of Colorado River water used in the most populous part of the nation’s most arid state, after lawmakers gave Las Vegas-area water managers the levers to limit flows to single-family homes.
Gov. Joe Lombardo signed a law passed by the Democratic-controlled Legislature to let the Southern Nevada Water Authority restrict the amount of water provided to homes — if the federal government further dials back Nevada’s share of water drawn from the river.
