PHOENIX β House Democrats are balking at ratifying a proposed drought contingency plan over what they see as a key missing element.
Minority Leader Charlene Fernandez said Thursday many of her members question why thereβs nothing in the proposal to require more water conservation.
Instead, it is more focused on finding ways to move water around, particularly to meet the needs of Pinal County farmers. But the Yuma Democrat said that does not deal with the underlying problem that Arizona is using more water than is naturally available.
Fernandez said sheβs not trying to hold the package hostage, especially with a Jan. 31 deadline to act or risk having the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation come up with its own plan to divide up the limited Colorado River water.
βYes, we are at a very critical time with only 14 days left,β Fernandez said. βBut I do think itβs doable. Conservation is something thatβs important.β
She also pointed out that the package lawmakers are being asked to approve involves more than changing state water laws. Thereβs also money involved, with the state coming up with cash both to buy water from the Colorado River Indian Tribes as well as to help Pinal County farmers drill new wells to replace some river water theyβll lose.
βIf weβre going to put money into this, and weβre talking about millions ... and we could be on the hook for more, we need to get exactly what we want,β Fernandez said.
Senate President Karen Fann said she agrees with the sentiment. But the Prescott Republican said she does not want to bog down an already complex issue at the last minute by throwing in additional issues.
βWeβre up against the wall,β said Fann.
She pointed out the whole point of the multi-state drought contingency plan is to keep the level of Lake Mead from going any lower than already projected. If it does drop lower, that would trigger requirements to make even deeper cuts in water use than the current plan envisions.
That risk is real, according to projections from the Bureau of Reclamation.
The last time Arizona and other states made projections was in 2007. Using data for the past 100 years they figured the chance of Lake Mead hitting critical shortage by 2026 was less than 10 percent.
But hereβs the thing: Once you look at more recent data only β specifically the last 30 years when the Southwest has been in an historic drought β continuing to withdraw water at this rate increases the chance of the lake falling to critical levels to more than 40 percent.
And Brenda Burman, commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, has made it clear that if the states do not come up with a plan to stop that, she will.
Fann said conservation will be addressed β eventually. But she said lawmakers need to keep an eye on the immediate problem and that hard βwallβ of a Jan. 31 deadline.
βItβs really just a band-aid,β Fann said of the drought contingency plan. βThis is not the fix, this is not the solution. This is not the time or the place, quite honestly, because of the wall, to get into some of those bigger conversations about conservation.β
Fernandez, however, said thereβs no reason to delay.
βWe need something to address this issue so weβre not back here in five or 10 years,β she said. Fernandez said that ignoring the problem for years is what led to this sudden push for immediate action.
βWe knew there was a drought,β she said. βWe knew climate change was real. And this is what happens when we donβt believe our scientists.β
While Fann doesnβt want progress slowed by new issues like conservation, she said thereβs no guarantee that she and other Republicans will vote for the necessary legislation.
Itβs not that theyβre opposed to it, she said. Itβs just that drafts are all theyβve seen to date.
βSo I canβt tell you whatβs in it and whatβs not,β Fann said. Instead, she said some ideas have been βfloated byβ lawmakers.
βAnd everything thatβs been floated by weβre still being told, βWeβre still doing a couple of tweaksβ or βWeβre almost there,ββ she said.
