Who is going to pay for the ‘expensive water?’
OPINION — “Arizona is not running out of water. We are running out of cheap water.” The line has become a slogan for anyone who wants to admit scarcity without accepting limits.
It turns a physical problem into a financial one. If water only costs more, Arizona can keep growing, keep building and keep approving new demand. We just need more pipelines, pumps, treatment plants, storage, recycling and money.
Expensive for whom?
Existing residents are already conserving. They have removed lawns, installed efficient fixtures, accepted restrictions and paid higher utility bills. Cities reuse wastewater. Farmers have improved irrigation. Yet every gallon saved can become an excuse for another subdivision, industrial project or population target.
That is not conservation. It is creating room for more demand.
Arizona likes to point out that it uses roughly the same amount of water it did decades ago despite millions of new residents. That is an achievement, but it does not prove the formula works forever. Much of that success came from converting farmland, improving efficiency and getting more value from each acre-foot.
Farmland is finite. Efficiency gains are finite. The Colorado River is finite.
Arizona can move water, treat it, recycle it and pump it from farther away. None of that creates water. Infrastructure changes where water comes from and how much it costs.
Money cannot repeal hydrology.
Arizona should first determine how much dependable water it actually has, then decide how much growth fits within that supply. New development that needs expensive new water should pay the full cost of securing and delivering it.
So, when someone says, “We are only running out of cheap water,” ask the question they usually leave out: Who is going to pay for the expensive water needed to keep growth going?
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