Arizona's taps won't run dry, but water bills will go up under federal plan for Colorado River
A new federal plan for the Colorado River will result in mandatory water supply cuts for Arizona, leading to increased utility bills for residents. Despite the cuts, city officials remain confident that infrastructure upgrades will prevent water shortages.
Why it matters
It illustrates the economic and logistical challenges of managing climate-driven water scarcity in the American Southwest.
Under the searing desert sun, Max Wilson watched water flow through a canal in north Phoenix. This unassuming strip of blue next to a busy road is the city's lifeline to the Colorado River. Soon, there will be less water in it.
Wilson, who is the water resources management advisor for the City of Phoenix, has to make sure cuts to this canal's supply don't cause taps to go dry for more than 1.7 million people who depend on his system.
He is confident water will keep flowing out of kitchen sinks, showers and sprinklers across the nation's fifth-largest city.
"Arizonans have been solving water problems for our entire history, and we didn't forget how to do that overnight," Wilson said. "We're going to do it again now."
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