WEAR A SILLY GRIN

Drought plays up link between water, growth … Shaun McKinnon … The Arizona Republic … Jun. 13, 2008 12:00 AM … Excerpted … Drought and new environmental limits on water use have caught up with home builders in California, where cities have begun enforcing laws that link water and growth.The New York Times reports that water authorities and other government agencies have begun to delay or halt new subdivisions under a long-ignored state law that requires a 20-year water supply before new homes can be built. Twenty years? That's the requirement in the Golden State. Twenty years of water, or about 80 years fewer than Arizona requires in its urban areas. • In Riverside County, a judge blocked construction of 1,500 homes, concluding that the builders failed to show evidence of an adequate water supply.• In San Luis Obispo County, on the coast north of Los Angeles, plans by Pismo Beach to annex land for a new development were rejected because the city lacked water supplies.• In Kern County, a farming area north of LA, as many as three developers had to pack up and go home when they couldn't substantiate water availability.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week declared a statewide drought as it became clear that conditions weren't improving. Winter runoff from the Sierra Nevada has fallen below average after an especially dry spring. Southern California faces the double whammy of recovering from the driest year on record and living on a leaner water budget. A federal judge limited the amount of water Southern California could import from the north, ruling that the region's thirst for water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta had threatened the survival of riparian species and habitat.California enacted a law in 2001 requiring developers they could provide 20 years of water for a new project, but cities and towns have rarely enforced the provision. With supplies tight, that's changing. Arizona requires 100 years of assured water in its Active Management Areas of Maricopa, Pima, Pinal and Santa Cruz counties, along with the Prescott area. In the rest of the state, the law lets developers ignore the requirement, except in Cochise County and the town of Patagonia, where elected officials adopted the AMA-style rules. Loopholes exist: In an AMA, a developer that lacks a renewable water source can join the Groundwater Replenishment District and then pump local groundwater, leaving future homeowners to pay for recharging the water. And none of the regulations protects the state's riparian resources. Because the law does not recognize the link between rivers and groundwater, rivers remain at risk from unchecked wells and over-pumping.

The loopholes in Arizona’s water laws are large enough to allow developers and corporate agriculture to drive a Mack truck through.

While jokes continue to surround California’s “Governator” at least he is willing to own his state has significant water issues which need to be addressed and resolves with dispatch.

In Arizona, on the other hand, our Governor is busily attending to the latest episode in the Joe and Janet reality show.

Developers and homebuilders on the other hand are bu$y lining their pocket$ while making a mockery out of ADWR vaunted 100 year assured water supply certificate.

And we busy ourselves watching reruns of the Joe & Janet reality “cage-fight” show, trying to find a shady spot from Arizona’s dry summer heat, counting the days till monsoon season begins heralding some relief to summer’s stifling heat.

We try our attention not to dwell on the precarious state Arizona’s water is in. And as long as the leaders of our state can keep our minds occupied we’ll happily put that silly grin on our face trust all is well and there truly is no water problems in our fate.