Happy holiday season, Water Agenda readers.

We’re preparing to take some downtime this December, so this is our final email of 2025 — our first-annual Year In Review edition!

Since launching in January, the Water Agenda readership has grown week after week, and that means there are lots of back editions that newcomers can check out to get up to speed in Arizona’s 2025 water year.

Welcome Aboard the Water Agenda: Our inaugural edition is a good first stop if you’re playing water policy catch-up. We introduced readers to the key players in Arizona’s world of water and the state of play in ongoing water conflicts. We also made a promissory to-publish list, much of which we carried through with, but with plenty more to explore next year.

“Arizona heads East” looks at whether it’s really feasible for Arizona to get water from the Mississippi River. “Aquifer Logic” presents some basic concepts about how water works underground, and why it never makes sense to simply remove Active Management Area designations after they’ve been initiated.

Rural Arizona’s Watershed Moment: Last year, the Governor’s Water Policy Council met every month to work on a few projects, including a concept for “Rural Groundwater Management Areas” for the many unprotected groundwater basin communities throughout the state. It’s a great primer if you want to understand core concepts of groundwater management in the desert, and why perfect solutions are hard to come by.

“Gail Griffin vs. Arizona” is an in-depth profile of Republican Rep. Gail Griffin (who blocked the Rural Groundwater Management legislation this year) and explains how she’s become the bane of her conservative colleagues in rural Arizona. “Water crisis × housing crisis = ?” and “Holey Water” is a two-parter, unpacking a legislative loophole that leaves homeowners vulnerable to groundwater declines, and exacerbates the housing crisis by forcing developers to build rental homes rather than for-sale homes.

Liquidate the Locals: Griffin didn’t just block the Rural Groundwater Management Act — she greenlighted a counter-strike with SB1520’s “Basin Management Area” concept. Griffin and her allies at the Arizona Farm Bureau Association say they want “local control” for rural groundwater management, but the solution they offered robs locals of control.

“Making it rain” looks at new technologies for harvesting water from the atmosphere. “The Water of Oz” reviews the many misbegotten water legislation proposals introduced this year, and existing legislative loopholes for industrial water users in the state. “Trump declares water war” looks at U.S.-Mexico water issues on the Arizona border, and the version for paid subscribers details how the water of the Rio Grande and Colorado River are negotiated between the countries.

Colorado River War 101: This summer, the rumored deadline for Colorado River Basin states to reach an agreement on River water allocations came and went. Last month, the official deadline was also passed without agreements. This edition lays out the history and basic concepts of “The Law of the River” and what’s at stake for the Basin states.

“What’s the dam problem?” is an explainer on the Hoover Dam and the inevitable outcomes of its declining water levels. “Water for Arizona’s silicon desert” explains why data centers are flocking to Arizona, and why they use so much water.

The River People: The Cucapá community inhabits the area once known as the lush Colorado Delta, where the River empties into the Sea of Cortez. But damming and diverting that water has mostly dried up the area. Meanwhile, the Ciénega de Santa Clara is a wetland bird sanctuary fed by agricultural water runoff, with an uncertain future.

“Presenting: The Drip Line” is the first in our video interview series, where we sat down to speak with Attorney General Kris Mayes about water lawsuits and her background as an elected official. “Arizona’s Tribal Water Strategy” reveals how the state has shifted from seeing Tribes as competitors for water resources to one of their greatest allies in attaining water security. “The other ‘water security’” exposes the little-known problem of foreign hackers taking over domestic municipal water systems. “Colorado’s River” looks at River negotiations from the perspective of our northern neighbors (and includes very entertaining bonus content for paid subscribers about the Great Carp Invasion).

Water war, class war, culture war: Our second video interview, this time with Republican Rep. Alex Kolodin (who’s running for Secretary of State next year) about the future of water management in Arizona.

Paper water: This edition welcomes Arren Kimbel-Sannit to the Water Agenda news desk and looks at how water exists on ledgers in the marketplace.

Thirsty new tech in the dusty Old Pueblo: We analyze the water footprint of the proposed “Project Blue” data center development.

Making history: We introduce the newly adopted “ag-to-urban” concept which allows farmers to sell their irrigation water rights to municipal water providers. Arizona designates some groundwater basins as “transfer basins” allowing them to export water further away to growing areas like Buckeye. But not everyone thinks it’s a great idea to transfer water from one parched area to another.

“Water goes to court” catches us up on the Home Builders Association’s lawsuit against the state for stopping new housing development in the Phoenix AMA in response to troubling groundwater decline projections. “Forget it, it’s the Capitol” reviews what the Arizona Legislature did and did not achieve with water legislation this year.

The ratepayer’s dilemma: We use psychology and game theory to understand why it would be a terrible idea to let Sedona make neighboring towns pay for their fancy new underground water storage system. Tl;dr: All the other towns would follow suit with luxury upgrade requests, driving everyone’s water bills up. (After publication, the Arizona Corporation Commission denied Sedona’s request, leaving locals angry that they got stuck with the tab.)

“The final showdown” examines how turning Oak Flats into a copper mine would impact the area’s groundwater supply.

The dogs of (water) war: The Colorado River Basin states have been less than transparent about ongoing River negotiations, but we sussed out some details.

Fondomonte fights back: An update on Attorney General Kris Mayes’ ongoing lawsuit against infamous Saudi alfalfa farmers Fondomonte in La Paz County.

Monsoon vs. Drought: A review of Arizona’s weather patterns and their consequences.

Drier times ahead: We interviewed Kyle Roernik of the Great Basin Water Network and the organization’s campaign to make sure Colorado River negotiations shake out well for everyone.

The Gail Griffin Decoder Ring: We add some needed annotations to Griffin’s water policy messaging campaign.

The truth about toilet-to-tap water: A digestible analysis of Arizona’s new “Advanced Water Purification” rules and what they mean for our domestic water supply.

Digging into groundwater: We explain the Department of Water Resources’ newly adopted “Alternative Designation of Assured Water Supply”, how they can help residential development continue in Central Arizona, and why some people don’t love it.

Normally, we break down complicated water policy technicalities for everyday Arizonans. Today, let’s break down some newsletter technicalities.

For every paid subscriber of the Water Agenda, there are eight more free subscribers and another three not-subscribed readers.

If everyone who reads regularly paid $5 per month, this newsletter would be making $91,800 annually. Not bad at all. But with only 8% of readers paying for our time, we’re not even breaking even.

If you want to make sure the Water Agenda stays in business, pays its writers well, and can cover the costs of attending water conferences (like the upcoming Colorado River Water Users Association conference this month), consider becoming a paid supporter.

Arizona needs to understand water, and the Water Agenda needs Arizona’s support. It’s a pretty good arrangement. Let’s keep it going.

And since it’s the holidays, we’re offering a discount on subscriptions. We’re just nice like that.

Birthday party plans: After the seven Colorado River states failed to present even a basic plan for a new water sharing agreement on Nov. 11, federal officials re-emphasized that states have to submit a joint proposal by Feb. 14 — Arizona’s birthday. It’s also Valentine’s Day, but the mood at the negotiating table isn’t very romantic. At the Western Governors Association’s winter meeting, Gov. Katie Hobbs accused upper basin states of refusing to cooperate before the last deadline. Still, she’s working with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox to hammer out a deal, per KTAR’s Heidi Hommel.

Out of patience: The Gila River Indian Community, which holds the largest share of the Central Arizona Project’s river water in the state, said it will reject any Colorado River plan that diminishes its water rights, the Daily Star’s Tony Davis reports. Gila River Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis blasted states’ “gamesmanship” in negotiations, and called for a plan that looks beyond the flow from Lake Powell to Lake Mead.

That’s a big dip: Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke was blunt with a room of business heavyweights at a Greater Phoenix Economic Council panel in late November, telling them, “We’re pretty sure we are going to lose 20–27% of our Colorado River supply.” He urged water conservation and said the state is trying to wean itself off its reliance on the river by looking more seriously at alternatives tied to the Central Arizona Project canal system.

A river with a soul: The Colorado River Indian Tribes council voted to give personhood to the Colorado River on Nov. 6, a move that gives the tribe a stronger legal basis to defend the river’s health and treat it as a living being under tribal law, the Republic’s Debra Utacia Krol reports.

Before we dip out for the rest of the year, you can catch Christian speaking at a recent panel at the ASU Humanities Water Symposium, where he explains his water nerd origin story, the overlapping and conflicting interests involved in Arizona water policy and why water is more like a checking account than a savings account.