Arizona Gov. Hobbs hits the ground running in pivotal year for Arizona water
Arizona’s newly inaugurated Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) has no time to waste as she faces the daunting challenge of addressing the state’s use of water from the overallocated Colorado River. Arizona is one of three states in the river’s Lower Basin, along with California and Nevada….last year, the river’s waters dropped to a level that triggers automatic allocation cuts from the federal Bureau of Reclamation…. One of the “first and most important thing[s]” directly under Hobbs’s control is something she’s already done, according to Dave White, director of Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation. Ahead of her inauguration, Hobbs confirmed she’d retain Tom Buschatzke as director of the state Department of Water Resources.