Drought-declaration judgment day in Arizona

Weather-wise, it is one of the most anticipated events of the fall season. Will they? Or… won’t they? Will the Governor’s Drought Interagency Coordinating Group recommend to Governor Ducey that he add the approaching “water year” to the State’s lengthy string of official drought years? Or will the panel recommend that the official dry spell designation end in Arizona, thus following in the footsteps of California, where that state’s drought designation was lifted in the wake of its extraordinarily wet winter?

Considering that much of Arizona remains in the same long-term state of drought it has experienced since the mid-1990s, the ICG’s recommendation for maintaining the declaration was not the toughest of calls, as it turned out. On the basis of reports from weather forecasters and environment analysts, the Governor’s Drought Interagency Coordinating Group on Thursday officially extended the region’s lengthy period of drought. Arizona governors have declared an official state of drought every year since 1999.

“I see unanimous assent to continue the drought declaration,” said Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke, who co-chairs the ICG. Traditionally, the ICG makes two recommendations to the Governor on the State’s drought status – one in the […]

Full article: Drought-declaration judgment day

More about Arizona water in policy and practice:

Arizona’s Water Supplies

The Water Wars of Arizona

What you don’t know about the water law that saved Arizona

Who controls the water? Arizona agencies slug it out

‘If there’s no water, what’s the point?’ Female farmers in Arizona