By Stephen DeVol
Sedona AZ (July 14, 2013) – It’s been said that a drop of water that fell on the (Mogolon) Rim 7,000 years ago will just now be reaching Montezuma’s Well. And Tom O’Halleran insists that that is the rate at which the Arizona Legislature works.
Tom O’Halleran is a man who knows both the water issues we face and he has seen how the legislature moves. He was in the Arizona House of representatives from 2001 to 2006 and an Arizona Senator from 2007 through 2009. Tom was a champion of water awareness even before he assumed his elected posts. Here’s the kicker on Mr. O’Halleran: he didn’t advocate for cattlemen, grazers, farmers, developers, cities and counties, or any special interest group. He advocated for the people of Arizona. Assure there will be adequate water supplies for all in Arizona. There have been over 100 different ideas bandied about for conserving water availability. Some seem to have possibilities in them and some are not workable and some are…well, not practical. Councilor Dan McIlroy suggests desalination as an idea however that is too costly and impractical. Get it from somewhere else say others. But get water from whom, and where? No more water left to appropriate from the Colorado. Conservation and better use of irrigation is a good start. That’s what they’re doing in Oregon. Tom says to examine different solutions, toss the ones that work, and start working on those that do work. He’s a man of action. And, he insists this is the time to start working on solutions.
To that end there are two new groups being funded by recent grants: one for locals, NGO’s and other water users. The other is government entities: the feds, the state, counties and local government. Bringing the two groups together after they have met independently will help find solutions. Tom is the first to say it will have to make some hard decisions. No it now or do it later, however decisions will need to be done. Water in the desert is an oxymoron and yet with the Colorado River and water from Northern Arizona the Valley of the Sun enjoys gold courses and swimming pools. The southern part of Arizona is one of the largest producers of fruit and vegetables in the United States.
Arizona is running on a finite resource: water. There are aquifers beneath the ground in addition to surface water of the Colorado and the Verde River. The Gila River Is long gone as are many small rivers. No one knows how much water is held in the aquifers however as the flow of the Verde continues to drop, and wells in the Verde Valley dry up and the water table lowers, each day we continue to approach the bottom of this finite resource. Man can live for days without food, but a day without water can be fatal.
The projected shortfall of water availability could be seen as soon as 2016. Wells will need to be dug deeper to maintain what has been historically available. Well digging costs thousands of dollars. Even if you’re on a municipal water company line, they are faced with the same problems of dropping water tables. No one is immune.
Bringing all the interested parties together is a good start. Three months ago with the completion of a United States Geological study that models how water moves underground was a major step in bringing applied science to the study of water. With scientific
Tom O’Halleran is a man on a mission: to preserve water for all future generations.
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5 Comments
We all sit around waiting for government to do something. They’re not very good at solviong problems.
Well written, Steve DeVol. Well written. Now there must be action and alternatives taken.
I highly recommend the book: Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands, by Brad Landcaster.
It an incredible, very practical resource to start doing what can be done on your own property to address these issues.
Excellent work is being done in researching and quantifying information. As a next step, pro-active PUBLIC POLICY emerging from the grassroots local constituencies with state, regional and local cooperation is the best answer to generating wide-spread support for local initiatives to conserve and respect water quality and quantity concerns. The PUBLIC INFORMATION component is the most important factor because it is the least invasive and makes the most significant impact. Thank you for your efforts. There can be no greater, more powerful tool than the media. Augmenting the water supply is a drastic geologic, cultural and financial trauma. Where such water reserves may be found (one wonders) since droughts are prevalent virtually everywhere and water is found contaminated by pesticides in the Arctic. I don’t think I am going out on a limb when I say that all major US aquifers are suffering depletion and have undertaken cautionary measures. Borrowing water is a stop-gap measure at best. Larger social and behavioral issues with greater relevance to the overall problem are best addressed through simple strategies such as WATER CONSERVATION. Measures to realign behaviors that have resulted in water quality and quantity infringements been written into law in Tucson and Phoenix. Addressing such simple matters as overwatering, car washing, natural landscaping imperatives, golf course maintenance guidelines, water usage fees make sense and are essential to the common weal. THIS NEEDS TO HAPPEN FIRST. In some cases in arid climates, golf course development and the establishment of high water use businesses have been discouraged. A concerted PUBLIC EDUCATION CAMPAIGN for tourists, of which 1 million visit Sedona each year, and the public in general, would make a difference in the awareness of the DESERT ECOLOGY, enhance our consciousness, enable our ability to make wise water conservation and water quality choices. Watershed entry and exit signs have been useful in bringing to public awareness the concept of our sub-terranian water supplies. The enactment of building codes requiring the use of ENVIRONMENTAL BUILDING MATERIALS to reduce heat retention thereby reducing the potential of buildings and paved areas to act as costly and wasteful points of EVAPORATION. Lastly, we cannot change the desert, but we can change our way of thinking about how we live within our natural environment. Common sense will prevail. Why blast through rock, invade the natural forests and destroy rivers to get water to cities where the behaviors of people border on the outrageous and even the OBSCENE USE OF WATER simply because the public education component has been neglected? Unless it’s a last resort. Grassroots change is always the path of least resistance C.T. Water Quality Specialist, University of Missouri Outreach and Public Policy Analist
Excellent article and interview. Thank you. It’s people like Steve DeVol that keep journalism alive in this brave new world.