By Joanna Allhands | Arizona Republic
Opinion: A Tier 1 water shortage on Lake Mead might sound scary, but it’s not the problem.
There’s a lot of freaking out about the first Tier 1 water shortage at Lake Mead, which is expected to be announced on Aug. 16.
There has been breathless coverage for weeks in the national press about how bad things are now for those of us who rely on the Colorado River.
But that’s the thing. A Tier 1 shortage is far from a crisis.
Oh, this level of shortage will be painful, especially for farmers in Pinal County who are losing their only source of renewable water. They have no option other than to turn back to groundwater, which already has dwindled to the point that it cannot meet the long-term demands of all Pinal users. Some farmers are already beginning to make tough choices about which fields to fallow and which of their most productive lands are worth saving.
