By Arizona Agenda
Massive cuts to Arizona’s share of Colorado River water could forge new bonds of cooperation among the communities fed by the Central Arizona Project.
Imagine that instead of courtroom water wars — and hopefully they stay in the courtroom — we bail each other out in the midst of basin-wide aridification.
This is the promise of the “Secure Water Arizona Program,” or — aptly — SWAP.
Under the program, which Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and city water staff presented in a meeting last week, participating cities, tribes and other users and providers would bank water in an emergency pool that they can access in times of acute shortage.
And they could voluntarily trade water between each other, connecting buyers and sellers in a mutually beneficial “coalition of the willing,” Max Wilson, a water manager with the city, told the council last week.
