We missed the goalpost. Most of Arizona’s urban areas were supposed to reach “safe yield,” the point where we are replenishing roughly as much groundwater as we pump, by 2025. But we’re not anywhere close. The state’s five initial groundwater Active Management Areas (AMAs), including Phoenix, still pump more water than they replace. And, if anything, are moving further away from their management goals, which were set four decades ago. So, what do we do now? That remains the great unanswered question.
—Joanna Allhands writes opinions primarily about Arizona water and the Colorado River.