Tuesday Top of the Scroll: Colorado River cuts won’t make Phoenix taps go dry, but the backup plan will cost billions
… [C]entral Arizona cities are charting a course through a future with less Colorado River water. Water managers across the Phoenix metro say they have robust backup plans in place to keep taps flowing, thanks to years of preparation and huge construction projects. Those upgrades, though, come with a big price tag, and will carry the area into a future that is still rife with uncertainty. … The very fact that Phoenix and its neighbors can receive water from the Colorado River is a feat of engineering. The canal system that carries it from western Arizona is a gravity-defying product of 1960s optimism and more than $4 billion in building costs. Soon, with less water in that canal, it will take more feats of engineering to survive. The steep costs of those projects will likely be passed along to residents.
Other Colorado River management news:
- WyoFile: Colorado River drought lawsuits may dampen Wyoming dam plans
- KJZZ (Phoenix): Arizona’s top water official explains the reality of Colorado River cuts
- Water Finance & Management: Fitch: Water systems vary in ability to handle Colorado River cuts
- NBC9 (Denver, Colo.): Business buzz: A record $29 billion for tourism, but the Colorado River crisis looms over our economic future
- Bloomberg: Opinion: For a thirsty American West, it’s either cows or humans
- Maven’s Notebook: Blog: Metropolitan reviews new Colorado River guidelines and forecast implications
