Politicians, business leaders and economic professionals who promote the construction of new businesses, housing developments and private prisons often do not discuss or dwell into the subject of water conservation or water shortages for obvious reasons. The fear of discovering the facts that Arizona is in danger of losing its ability to sustain the mega growth is haunting the very same people who say there is enough water for our state for all future growth and planning. Surely running out of water is no one’s fear right now although studies show that we are treading on dangerous grounds in the area of water supply in our state.
Private prisons sustain large populations that are concentrated in size and can exhaust or consume the daily water consumption at an enormous rate that has never been planned or calculated in the planning or construction stages of such mega structures. Taking the three most active counties in the state, Maricopa, Pima and Pinal counties, there are some things that have to be revealed in order to understand the complete consequences of building new prisons and housing associated with this venture. Factors have been added to give more credit to the speculation that a water shortage is imminent and they are being ignored by our state leaders. One fact is our region is the one of the most threatened regions in the United States because of its limited rainfall and yearly accumulations. Global warming, whether you believe in it or not, could impact our water availability thus should be taken into serious consideration as part of the impact statement. Thirdly, this region of these tri-counties is connected by a water corridor explained in a Morrison Institute report as the odds of this water phenomenon connect us to the very root of the resource anticipated to be overloaded in the near future.
In the Morrison Institute report titled “Watering the Sun Corridor” the answers appear to show a degree of certainty that this regions is dramatically being drained from existing water supplies as it is “pumped, dammed, moved, hoarded litigated away and fought over “ because of its precious value to the land and its people. These counties already mentioned are bound together by the Central Arizona Project and the limitations of the Groundwater Management Act. Never in the past did the economists, state leaders or other speculators of business calculate the heavy drain of prison populations in these times of worry about having sufficient supplies for our major metro cities that are interconnected to the water pipe. Gambling that the water supply is sufficient to support such a substantial load of multitudes of thousands and thousands of prisoners can be the fatal mistake in the overall plan. The reports will address several issues such as: are population projections for this corridor still meaningful in light of the current economic downturn? How many people can be supported by the corridor’s water supplies? What happens if the conventional assumptions about water availability prove inaccurate? How should the impact of climate change be assessed? How would lifestyles have to change by dramatically decreased water use? Does more efficient water reuse stretch existing supply? What water supplies are available for the future?
Population projections are running interference of the plans to build prisons as this tri-county area is project to have much more of a burden that anticipated ever before. The Morrison Institute commissioned Marshall Vest, director of the Economic and Business Research Center at the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management to do population projections. In its report it states that it is projecting “approximately 10.1 million residents in 2040 with a “low” projection of 8.9 million. Reading the report it becomes rather positive in content as it assures the residents won’t run out of water if water is managed and conserved. It does caution residents that abuse or excessive uses of water can impact their availability thus water must be used wisely and restricted to more agricultural or commercial uses in the future.
The main area of concern for residents wanted instant access to water is the use of underground water. As of 2006, 45% of the three-county supply still comes from groundwater pumping. Arizona continues to be a most an active partner in groundwater management. One important requirement is that new developments demonstrate secure physical, legal, and continuous access to a 100-year assured water supply. This is a stricter standard than California’s, which requires a 20-year access (and only for large subdivisions). The 100-year supply in Arizona should generally come from surface water, preserving groundwater for when surface water is not available. It is strongly suggested that before any new prisons are built to accommodate the state’s prison growth plans, there are sound methods in place to evaluate the usage and the availability of such water supply for inmates to brush their teeth, use the toilet and shower daily at the cost of taxpayers unaware that these resources are being stolen right from under their noses with no resistance from state leaders or politicians.
Source:
http://morrisoninstitute.asu.edu/publications-reports/2011-watering-the-sun-corridor-managing-choices-in-arizonas-megapolitan-area
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