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How Should Arizona Meet Its Future Water Needs?. A PUBLIC HEARING October 28, 2009. Pessimism grows on CAP water shortage. Article in Daily Star Feb. 26, 2007 “The [Colorado] river's outlook is worse than even the worst-case scenario predicted by a federally funded study written 12 years ago”
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How Should Arizona Meet Its Future Water Needs? A PUBLIC HEARING October 28, 2009
Pessimism grows on CAP water shortage • Article in Daily Star Feb. 26, 2007 • “The [Colorado] river's outlook is worse than even the worst-case scenario predicted by a federally funded study written 12 years ago” • “The principal reason is that the river's three Lower Basin states — Arizona, Nevada and California — have grown faster and used more water than forecasters predicted.”
Pessimism grows on CAP water shortage • Article in Daily Star Feb. 18, 2009 • “…the most likely reduction in Colorado River flows from global warming and drought will be about 20 percent by 2050.” • “A separate study… will predict a 30 percent chance that Lake Mead and Lake Powell could go dry by 2050 if nothing is done about climate change...”
BACKGROUND • One of the biggest environmental and socio-political issues of our time is the conflict over water. • The "water wars" (often literally) will only intensify in the future as demands for water increase globally. • In southern AZ, we have been using water (surface and ground water) faster than it replenishes due to urban expansion and increasing agricultural demand. • The Central Arizona Project (CAP) was built (1973-1993) to import water from the Colorado River to southern Arizona.
336 miles, 1.5 maf, 2900’ uphill, $4 billion Lake Havasu
CENTRAL ARIZONA PROJECT (CAP) • 336 miles of aqueducts, tunnels, pumping plants and pipelines • carrying 1.5 million acre-feet of Colorado River water per year. Extends from Lake Havasu to the southern boundary of the San Xavier Indian Reservation southwest of Tucson (up 2900’) • at a cost of over $4 billion ($1.65 billion has to be repaid)
THE PLAYERS • U.S. Bureau of Reclamation • Native Americans • Agri-Business • City Citizens • Environmentalists
PUBLIC HEARING • 10 minute presentations • Convince panel your plan is best • No comments from other groups • 10 minute recess • 5 minute rebuttals • Address statements made by other groups • 10 minutes of questions from panel • Decision by panel
Public Hearing Tips 1. Know your own side well Know your strongest arguments Know your weaknesses Prepare your defenses
Public Hearing Tips 2. Know the other sides well Know their strongest arguments prepare defenses Know their weaknesses point them out
Public Hearing Tips 3. Present a clear plan State what it will accomplish State how it will be accomplished
Public Hearing Tips 4. Address panel’s likely criteria directly Predict the criteria the panel likely will use to make their decision and write them down. For each one, point out the criterion and state how your plan is best.
Public Hearing Tips • 5. Be persuasive • speak to the panel members • use visual aids • use facts vs. emotion appropriately • sound informed • be enthusiastic