Hello, readers of the Water Agenda.

This week the federal deadline came and went for the Colorado Basin states to reach an agreement on a shared reduction plan. No agreement was reached.

So the mystery of closed-door interstate negotiations remains opaque — but as we approach the 1-year birthday of this newsletter, I can reveal the answer to another question: How did I come to be so interested in researching water in Arizona, and why do I keep at it?

It was music that first brought me to Arizona. First was a stop in Tucson with my old band. It was the best crowd we played for, but then it was back into the van and onto the next town. Years later, my sister was a manager at the FORM music festival in magical Arcosanti in Cordes Junction. This is when I really fell in love with the high deserts of the Southwest. For a short time, I became a resident at Arcosanti, but then the kismet road called me elsewhere.

In 2020, I saw an opportunity to rent some space in rural Cochise County. I made the move sight unseen, with plans to settle down and commit more deeply to my various creative pursuits (music, sculpture, poetry, philosophy).

But like many creatives, I am an expert procrastinator, and I love a challenge. I thought the desert would be an escape from distraction, but no luck — all around me were interesting, important, troubling situations that were hard to ignore.

I got a job at a local engineering firm, taking over much of the research and technical writing about the solar-over-canal technology the firm was developing, which was later licensed and installed at the Gila River Indian Community. (Read more about that in this back edition of the Arizona Agenda.)

But the idea of groundwater conservation was completely new to me. In my 20s, I spent a year doing conservation work in a Texas Americorps program and got a decent education about all the ways human civilization recklessly creates problems in the natural environment. But I would have never guessed that the communities of the Southwest were literally running out of water.

When I heard about some locals using a little-known Arizona statute to initiate Active Management Area groundwater regulations in our basin, I was initially skeptical — not because I am anti-regulation, but because people often fail to research very deeply before jumping to their conclusions about policy. And sure, I reserve the right to a healthy distrust of government intervention in general.

But the more I looked into the situation, the more I concluded that AMA regulations, despite flaws in the concept, were an important first step toward solving our water problems.

Next door, my neighbor Chico was losing his retirement investment, a small dairy ranch where he produced queso fresco to sell locally. After his well started losing capacity, his 50-cow operation shrunk to 20 cows. When the well went completely dry, he was down to 12 cows and started hauling water. In 2023, he sold off his remaining cows and put the property on the market. At least he had a home in nearby Douglas with running water.

For other neighbors, dry wells meant taking out loans to pay for new wells, which would also go dry one day. One neighbor spent $120,000 on a new well but drilled too deep and couldn’t get water. No refunds from the drillers, of course.

Meanwhile, new nut tree orchards and irrigation pivots (those big green circles of alfalfa in the desert) kept showing up throughout the valley, exacerbating the groundwater declines. And when the 80,000-cow CAFOs show up, entire communities and schools took on the odor of the lower chamber of an overused porta-potty on a construction site. This went far beyond the “farm smell” locals were accustomed to.

So, I was all-in on trying to get the AMA designation voted in. I hosted some town halls and public debates. I’d like to think that my giant sign next to Walmart won us some votes.

This chapter of the story ended with the Douglas Basin voting for an AMA in 2022, while the Willcox Basin voted against their own.

The chapter ended, but the story did not.

One of the things I learned while researching water policy was that simply getting an AMA designation wouldn’t guarantee that all our problems would be solved. I made a commitment to my neighbors that, if the Department of Water Resources didn’t create a satisfactory Management Plan for the Douglas AMA, I’d use the judicial review process to try to make things right. That was a promise I had to follow through with, which was not as easy as I imagined.

I also realized that sustainability policies are not sustainable unless the community is part of the solution. That’s why I jumped at the opportunity to apply for a community workshop program offered by ASU and the Lincoln Institute. It took months to get buy-in from the local cities, county officials, farmers, ranchers, residents, environmentalists, and activists. But in the end, over 40 key stakeholders in the area came together for two full days of facilitated workshopping about the future of water management in our valley.

The lasting output of that conference was the Sulphur Springs Water Alliance, which is now a grant-funded organization bringing together our biggest water users and water protectors to work together and keep each other accountable. Of course, some locals thought I had sold out to corporate agriculture because I was willing to talk with them about water policy.

Meanwhile, I was driving up to the Capitol to talk with state officials and testify at congressional hearings. I call this the “community lobbyist” job. It’s like being a corporate lobbyist, but you represent the interests of real people, and nobody pays you for it.

People often ask me how I managed to do all of this. It wasn’t that hard… until I ran out of money.

The first time my bank account hit zero, some neighbors pitched in to cover my rent and basic needs for a few months. Others gave me vegetables and eggs from their homesteads. Then I got a small grant from the Environmental Defense Fund organization, which helped, but also led to conspiracy theories that I was a shill for the George Soros globalist cabal. Then I helped my landlord sell her property and got a five-figure finder’s fee, keeping me floating for over a year.

Continuing my activism meant I had to forgo investing that money in my own property and home, but what was I going to do — just give up on making sure our community was heading toward a future where the next generations could still have water, still enjoy the beauty of the Sky Islands, and create a little bit of paradise in crazy world?

Nah.

But one year later, my bank account hit zero again, and I was ready to throw in the towel. Maybe I had done enough. Maybe Tractor Supply Company needed a cashier. But the same day that I opened the spreadsheets and calculated how deep into the red I would be over the coming months, I got a call from Hank Stephenson at the Arizona Agenda. He was following up on a previous discussion about becoming the publication’s copyeditor.

“That sounds perfect,” I said.

Six months later, we launched the Water Agenda and the rest is history.

Now my responsibility is much bigger — trying to understand the complexities of water for the entire state, and relay that information to voters in a comprehensible way.

But at least I get a little bit of money now.

So let me take this opportunity to say “thank you” to all the supporters of this publication. It’s nice to know that our hard work is appreciated.

And a thank you to Arren who is now helping keep this ship afloat, and everyone at the Agenda news desk, who have been some of the best coworkers I’ve had the privilege of working with.

When people become monthly or annual supporters of the Water Agenda, they have the option to leave a testimonial. Here are a few of the messages that motivate us to keep going.

“Great work and super-pertinent information. I worked in water resources management for two large regional systems (San Diego County Water Authority and Central Arizona Project) for more than a dozen years.” - Supporter Hunter

“Thanks for your dedication to this essential body of knowledge.” - Supporter Joan

“Water news crucially informs my work as an attorney in a rural county.” - Supporter Dylan

“What you’re doing is so important. People need to understand this issue, and you’re a good writer. Thank you.” - Supporter Joette

“We need coverage of important topics that actually affect everyday lives and the future state of our State!” - Supporter Bart

“Thanks for this very informative blog.” - Supporter James

“We need clear, accurate, unbiased information to understand the complexities of water policy.” - Supporter Karen

“I work on Tribal water policy in Arizona and your publication is a wealth of knowledge for me.” - Supporter Cora

“Supporting local journalism on an important topic.” - Supporter Frank

“Local reporting is crucial! Thank you for doing excellent investigation and trustworthy journalism.” - Supporter Kristina

“Independent local journalism is key to transparency and accountability in policy and decision-making. Thank you for being our loyal watchdog!” - Supporter Michelle

“I support this publication because water is Arizona’s most precious resource and its preservation should be everyone’s responsibility.” - Supporter Helen

$1300: iPhone 17 Pro

$800: Taylor Swift front row tickets

$500: Weekend AirBnB rental

$175: Ray-Ban sunglasses

$85: Lululemon yoga mat

$60: Supports the next 44 editions of the Water Agenda

Send help: Now that the deadline for the states that use Colorado River water has come and gone, Gov. Katie Hobbs is asking the Trump administration to intervene, ABC15’s Manuelita Beck reports. Hobbs sent a letter, alongside Republican and Democratic legislators, to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum asking him to ensure Arizona gets its share of River water. And of course, they took some shots at the Upper Basin states that they blame for the impasse in negotiations.

First things first: Arizona officials are taking the first steps toward creating a new Active Management Area in western Arizona, per KJZZ’s Camryn Sanchez. The Department of Water Resources issued a Notice of Initiation of Designation Procedures, a fancy way of saying people in La Paz County are asking for an AMA. The move comes as the Ranegras Plain Groundwater Basin has measured “groundwater declines of over 200 feet,” and as of Wednesday officials put in place a moratorium on building out more irrigation in the basin.

Wild West of water: If you want to know what unregulated groundwater usage looks like, check out the Hualapai Valley Basin. More than 99% of the cropland in the basin is controlled by out-of-state farming operations or investments funds, the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting’s Christopher Lomahquahu and Brendon Derr found.

Hitting them in their water wallets: A new utility billing system is leading to higher water bills, and no small amount of frustration among Gilbert residents, per ABC15’s Ford Hatchett. City officials held a public meeting on Monday to hear from angry residents, the first of three listening sessions. The city can fix billing issues, but officials say costs are going up and that means monthly utility bills will, too.