Closing the Water Demand-Supply Gap in Arizona

Closing the Water Demand-Supply Gap in Arizona

The supply of water is dependent on the available water resources provided by nature, the conditions and locations the natural sources are found, and the amount of water available in reservoir storage. Demand, on the other hand, is driven by population and increase of uses. And their efficiency and also the location of these uses. The Arizona population has steadily experienced growth from 2.7 million to 6.6 million in 1980-2009, with even an increase of economic resulting from increases in the use of water (Eden et al.). The population is expected to grow with water demand expected to increase through at varying degrees in a different location. Some places in Arizona currently experience water shortage while efforts to improve water storage are undergoing in other areas. However, the economic, legal, and political factors influence these efforts, some encouraging and others contributing to widening the gap. The water demand and supply Gap has seen various efforts being put in place to address the situation.

Causes

The increase in population has caused stress on the water supply on the natural sources, which is expected to increase. According to the Colorado River Basin, Water supply and Demand indicate that the Colorado River Basin has surpassed its supply capacity, which may worsen due to drought and the adverse climate change (Eden et al.). Also,  full use of the apportionments of the parts of the river through the upper basin and the lower basin, which consists of Arizona, leads to long term shortages in the water supply in the river. Considerably interferences among the reservoirs of the river have also contributed to the scarcity of water supply. Such interruptions include evaporation due to climate change. Riparian vegetation use and other industrial and agricultural uses enable the loss of water levels in the lake with annual deficit consumptions of 1.2 MAF of the water supply arising from the 12 feet decline of water supply in Lake Mead, a reservoir for Colorado waters annually.

Also, a considerable increase in municipal and agricultural demands in the use of Arizona groundwater regarded as the savings account of their water has led to the depletion of the nonrenewable water. The continued legal adjudications of the Gila River and the Little Colorado River General stream has seen a considerable use of water from the increased urbanization, industrialization, and other activities (Eden et al.) such as mining using a lot of water without control due to the legal delays. However, though some of the factors resulting in the gap are from human activities, others are caused by the ecological conditions of Arizona (Eden et al.). Arizona, which receives most of its surface water from snow and rain with the biggest reservoir consisting of snowballs in the west. The change in the seasonal timings of these reservoirs has affected the watershed by increasing evaporations reducing the amount of water flow in the rivers. However, considerate measures have been out in place to address the looming water demand and supply gap in the region since the current water situation and the future challenges are expected to grow if actions to mitigate the condition are not affected.

Solutions

One considerable solution to the water demand-supply gap increase is the groundwater management. Since most of the water used in Arizona groundwater is nonrenewable, there is a need to protect these reservoirs with the Ground Water Management Act of 1980 (Eden et al.). A couple of actions have been taken to conserve the waters with the increased participation of the municipal with many cities educating their locals and providing incentives to encourage installations of water-efficient household fixtures (Eden et al.). Also, since most of the groundwater comes from the rains, the locals are supposed to practice rainwater harvesting and a couple of indoor conservation practices to reduce water usage and increase its supply for future use. The city of Avondale, for example, provided commercial and residential infill incentives in 2004 for infill programs.

Also, the increased industrial need of water must be controlled with various conservations measures by these industries saving a significant amount of freshwater. Multiple industries such as the Chandler utilizes a couple of programs in recovering, treating, and returning a portion of its rinsed water to aquifers and using the reclaimed water for mechanical systems (Eden et al.). The reuse system ensures that the industries reuse almost 75% of its water, reducing their annual water use significantly by 100 million gallons (Eden et al.). Also, the considerable conservation measures in agricultural use provide an immense ground water-saving reducing the existing gap.

Also, through the Central Arizona Project (CAP), the supply of water is considerably increased, reducing the gap. By adopting the WRDC report on population growth and water demand projections, Arizona can act accordingly. Through this, the flow of water is encouraged by reducing the activities which reduce the flow and also supporting riparian lands reducing the rate of evaporation. One specific CAP implementation is the reclamation of the Central Yavapai Highlands Water Resource Management (Eden et al.). However, integration of the solutions and more political will and involvement of the locals would ensure great success in the solutions to reduce the gap.

Work cited

Eden, Susanna et al. “Closing The Water Demand-Supply Gap In Arizona.” Wrrc.Arizona.Edu, 2015, https://wrrc.arizona.edu/sites/wrrc.arizona.edu/files/Arroyo-7-24-2015.pdf.