This question could tank months of work on Arizona’s plan to help save Lake Mead
Opinion: As Arizona’s supply dwindles, farmers, tribes and others are starting to feud over who deserves the water – and for how long.
Water flows in 2017 to a Pinal County cotton farm at the base of the Sawtooth Mountains. (Photo: Arizona Farm Bureau)
How long – and how much – should other water users help sustain Pinal County agriculture?
That may be the question that makes or breaks Arizona’s participation in the Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan, a three-state agreement aimed to keep water levels at Lake Mead from falling dangerously low, requiring more severe cuts from every water user in this state.
We have long known that Ag Pool water – low-priority water from Lake Mead on which Pinal County farmers rely – is slated to go away in 2030.
