ABSTRACT

Marnie Boardman

 

Tucson and its surrounding region have seen a great deal of growth in recent decades. With this growth has come increasing demands on the aquifer system that supplies this region with almost all of its water. Evidence of hydrological and ecological transitions may, in part, be related to transitions in population. Water management agencies have implemented policies to bring the current "overdraft" of groundwater use into balance with aquifer recharge rates. Policies and innovations to bring the Tucson AMA into a state of safe-yield have had some impact, but goals to balance the water budget by 2025 seem increasingly difficult to achieve. The author observes that the Tucson AMA will only achieve safe-yield through drastic but rational change at the policy level, the water provider service level, and the consumer level. This paper explores the dynamics of the water crisis in Tucson in order to identify possible policy adjustments. The paper also explores the resonance between hydrological transitions, population transitions and political transitions.