Living here in the Arizona desert can sometimes be a paradox when it comes to the usage of water.  Common sense would infer that water would be a precious commodity with a good number of regulations regarding its use, as well as a large-scale conservation campaign.  Heck, I have heard that places like Atlanta and other larger Southeastern cities where one wouldn’t necessarily think there would be severe water issues (although there are) have a good number of conservation initiatives, lawn-watering regulations, and other measures to help keep the usage of limited resources in check.

Here in the Phoenix Area, where I am a native, I cannot remember any similar measures ever being widely publicized.  To my knowledge, there are absolutely no residential use restrictions, nor do I ever remember any being in effect in the last couple of decades.

Now, I am not one to want to have a ton of governmental regulations upon every aspect of our lives.  The less government, the better.  But of course there is a vast difference between big government and smart, efficient government.  When it comes to the environment, natural resources, wildlife, and the health of our planet and ecosystems though, this is where I think smart government can help at times.  It is quite evident in the history of the 20th century that industry has not generally taken a voluntary effort toward caring for our environment.  We can’t generally expect that the free market is going to work in the best interest of our environment.  But that’s a whole other subject I’ll save for a later time.

But the thing that I am a bit more disappointed about is the lack of public awareness campaigns about water conservation here in the Phoenix Metro area.  It’s just not mentioned too often in the public arena.  There’s never really any commercials, billboards, advertising campaigns, or massive public outreach programs intended to educate the public about water conservation.  Maybe I’m just not seeing them?  Maybe they’re really out there?  Could be, but it would be hard to miss them after living here for so long.

Now there have been major strides with regards to the development of new neighborhoods and buildings.  When traveling through some older neighborhoods in the area (pre-1980s and 1990s), there is a vast difference between the types of vegetation and landscaping.  The older neighborhoods tend to have much more non-native vegetation, lawns, and other water-intensive features that require a large amount of irrigation.  The newer neighborhoods generally have strayed from that, and yards are typically landscaped with granite, native trees, shrubs, and cacti.  If there is a lawn, it is typically much smaller.  Kudos to the newer development philosophy.  Glad they realized that this is a desert, and the native flora evolved in a way that adapted to little rainfall, therefore requiring very little irrigation.  And it is beautiful too!  Arizona has some most interesting and gorgeous vegetation.  I think developers began to realize that it is more cost-effective to not try to make Phoenix something it is not intended to be:  an oasis in the desert.  I think that was the philosophy of some earlier Phoenix inhabitants - many people moving from other, wetter areas trying to bring some of the moisture with them to their new hometown.  Nice and well-intentioned, yes, but sustainable over the long-term, no.

But does this newer philosophy of more efficient use of water carry over into the majority’s use of it in the household?  That is anyone’s guess, but I’m going to say that it would be wise for any resident here to do a thorough evaluation of his or her water use, and see if there may be room for improvement.

While searching for a good resource to help people with ways to evaluate their water use, I found this resource from the Maryland Department of the Environment.  Check it out and see what you may be able to do to save water around the house.

One reason why I wanted to write about this was to express my support for an overall philosophy of conservation within the public as a whole.  This goes for any area of the world, and not just Arizona.  Even though the earth is 70% covered by water, and it provides for the illusion that it is an infinite resource, it most certainly isn’t.  Realizing this can provide a foundation for conservation efforts worldwide.

But there is also another reason why I wanted to discuss this.  Read this news release from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography to get some insight as to how climate change could potentially influence the delivery of Colorado River water in the Southwestern U.S.  According to a publication from the Arizona Department of Water Resources, about 40% of Arizona’s water demand is met by water originating from the Colorado River.

Maybe that’s why conservation efforts have not been as plentiful as they could be.  With such a reliable and plentiful source of water like the Colorado, it seemed like it would be sustainable for generations.  But as the research from the Scripps Institution shows, this may not be the case going forward.

In my opinion, findings like these are not to be taken lightly, shrugged off, or forgotten about.  What they should mean is a loud wake-up call for us to take further measures to ensure that we can mitigate these scenarios.  But has this seemed to be the case in the local news?  This should have been front page material here!

Hopefully, like is the same for the overall acceptance of climate change being human-induced, more and more people will begin to overhaul their energy and water use, so that we can avoid some of these scenarios.  It all starts with each of us doing our part.  I have hope that soon, the majority of people will realize that simple adjustments in lifestyle toward overall conservation doesn’t mean a lower quality of life.  These adjustments can help ward off serious impediments to our quality of life in general.

A lack of available water certainly could make life less-than-enjoyable.  Let’s try to avoid that at all costs!

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Tags: Colorado River resources, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, water conservation in Arizona, water shortages in the Southwest