Vick, Margaret J.

English

University of New Mexico

Volume 46 
Issue 4 Fall 
Fall 2006 
Arizona Water Policy: Management Innovations in an Urbanizing, 
Arid Region, edited by Bonnie G. Colby & Katharine L. Jacobs 
Margaret J. Vick 
Recommended Citation 
Margaret J. Vick, Arizona Water Policy: Management Innovations in an Urbanizing, Arid Region, edited by 
Bonnie G. Colby & Katharine L. Jacobs, 46 Nat. Resources J. 1081 (2006). 
Available at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nrj/vol46/iss4/9 
This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at UNM Digital Repository. It has 
been accepted for inclusion in Natural Resources Journal by an authorized editor of UNM Digital Repository. For 
more information, please contact amywinter@unm.edu, lsloane@salud.unm.edu, sarahrk@unm.edu. 
BOOK
REVIEWS
Arizona Water Policy: Management Innovations in an Urbanizing, Arid
Region. Edited by Bonnie G. Colby & Katharine L. Jacobs. Issues in
Water Resource Policy Series Editor Ariel Dinar. Washington, DC:
Resources for the Future, 2006. Pp. 270. $65.00, hardback.
Arizona Water Policy: Management Innovations in an Urbanizing,
Arid Region is a compilation of 15 essays by different experts on different
topics related to Arizona water policy bound together by the same cover.
This is the second book in a series examining water policy issues
published by Resources for the Future (RFF). RFF publications are
intended for an audience listed as "scholars, the media, advocacy
groups, NGOs, professionals in business and government, and the
public."
The introductory chapter by the editors, "Water Management
Challenges in an Arid Region, Key Policy Issues," lists seven cross-
cutting issues in Arizona water management; "growing demand and
finite supplies; changing social values; safe yield versus sustainability;
connecting land use and water supply planning; connecting water's
value and users' costs; climate change and supply variability; and
framing issues and making choices." The introduction concludes, "This
collection of essays by well-known water experts from over a dozen
fields of expertise contains important lessons for all arid regions facing
competing water demands." While this is a good compilation of essays
on Arizona water management, it falls short of addressing cross-cutting
issues or providing important lessons for other arid regions.
After reading each essay, most of which could be stand-alone
articles, I expected the concluding essay by the editors, titled "Lessons
for Semiarid Regions Facing Growth and Competition for Water," to pull
this book together and explain the interrelationships among the physical
characteristics of water supply (Chapters 4 and 5), the development and
legal history (Chapters 2 and 3), issues of rural and urban water supply
and demand (Chapters 11 and 12), and the effect of these issues on
ecosystem sustainability (Chapters 7 and 8) by using the cross-cutting
issues identified in the introductory chapter to inform the reader about
the factors and circumstances that make the Arizona situation applicable
to other "urbanizing, arid regions" -a tall order, but an expectation
created by the editors. Instead, after a few bullet points on the benefits
and lessons learned from the Groundwater Management Act, the final
chapter summarizes the individual chapters, sometimes with verbatim
excerpts. While a re-cap can be useful, this chapter is 16 pages long and
set forth without the benefit of a single heading, sub-heading, page
reference, or citation and, in some instances, overstates the conclusions
NATURAL RESOURCES JOURNAL
of the chapter authors. If a reader is looking for the "lessons for semiarid
regions" or the "management innovations in an urbanizing, arid region,"
she will need to pull them from the text of the individual essays. This
does not, however, lessen the value of the essays as a compilation of
water policies within Arizona.
As indicated above, this series by RFF is directed to a wide range
of audiences, which may limit the effectiveness of this book. In addition,
the individual essays are not of a consistent style or caliber. A short
review of individual essays illustrates this and will more fully inform
potential readers about the usefulness of this book for their particular
needs whether they be law, policy, or general reading.
*Chapter 4, "The Water Supply of Arizona: The Geographic
Distribution of Availability and Patterns of Use" by three experts from
the U.S. Geologic Survey and Chapter 5, "Drought, Climate Variability,
and Implications for Water Supply and Management" by two
climatologists and the co-editor Katharine Jacobs, provide technical
information about Arizona water resources. Each chapter contains
precise information, useful maps, and comparative charts leading to a
final discussion about drought preparedness planning.
* Chapter 3, "Balancing Competing Interests: The History of
State and Federal Water Laws," by Michael J. Pearce, former chief
counsel of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, provides a clear,
well-developed summary of the relationships among the different
aspects of Arizona water law including the major cases, significant
legislation, the Law of the River governing the use of the Colorado River,
and the impact of federal laws on Arizona water policy including the
Endangered Species Act. This chapter provides a concise reference and
excellent background for the more specific subject matter chapters to
follow. It concludes with a useful "Timeline of the Development of
Arizona Water Law" beginning with the establishment of the Arizona
territory in 1863 and ending with the 2004 Arizona Water Settlements
Act.
* Chapter 7, "Sustaining People, Habitats, and Ecosystems: The
Challenge of Integrating Water Policy and the Environment" by Patrick
J. Graham, the Executive Director of the Nature Conservancy of Arizona,
presents a bleak picture for ecosystem preservation and for the future of
Arizona's natural diversity. The author points out that within Arizona
the "freshwater systems... and their associated riparian habitats, support
a disproportionately high number of species relative to their aerial
extent" including "the highest densities of breeding birds found in North
America." He then examines examples of dwindling habitat, threatened
and endangered species, and the Herculean efforts to attempt to restore
and maintain ecologically important regions of the state given the
1082 [Vol. 46
BOOK REVIEWS
Arizona water rights system, which favors depletion. The author
suggests changes in Arizona water policy and strategies for preserving
the ecosystems that rank Arizona "among the top five" states for natural
diversity. Graham concludes with lessons learned in Arizona that may
be useful to prevent such devastation in other arid regions.
*Chapter 8, "The Disconnect between Water Law and
Hydrology" by University of Arizona law professor Robert Glennon,
explains the Arizona water laws that have created the bleak
circumstances described in Chapter 7. This is a concise explanation of the
problems facing the state resulting from the disconnect between law and
hydrologic reality, particularly the separation of groundwater from
surface water law. "In Arizona, the legislature has failed to give the
Arizona Department of Water Resources significant authority to regulate
groundwater pumping in the rural parts of the state or to protect
riparian habitat." After examining Arizona water law, the author looks
at the effect of federal laws and the issues of Colorado River
management and concludes that "it will take considerable political will
to tackle the machinery of housing development and population growth
and to craft policy reforms that require new developments to live with a
sustainable supply of water. If Arizona's past is any guide, there is no
reason to be optimistic."
* Chapter 9, "Protecting the Supply: Arizona's Water Quality
Challenges," by Karen L. Smith and Charles G. Graf, two recent admini-
strators within the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality,
provides a thorough discussion of the existing water quality challenges
and an informed projection of future issues. This chapter offers an
analysis of the water quality challenges presented by the management of
quantity, with specific concerns raised by the reliance on treated effluent.
* Chapter 10, "Implications of Federal Farm Policy and State
Regulation on Agricultural Water Use," by George B. Frisvold, Paul N.
Wilson, and Robert Needham, provides a somewhat different
perspective on agricultural water use. "Because agriculture accounts for
such a large share of Arizona's overall water consumption [estimated at
80 percent of withdrawals], changes in agricultural policy have profound
implications for the state's task of balancing water supply and demand."
This is a well referenced analysis of federal commodity and conservation
programs and how changes in these programs alter cropping patterns
and thereby impact water use within Arizona.
e Chapter 11, "Urban Growth and Water Supply," by James M.
Holway, associate director of the Institute of Sustainability at Arizona
State University, discusses the staggering growth within the urban areas
of Arizona. This chapter provides an insightful look at the relationship
between the management goals established under the Groundwater
Fall 20061
NATURAL RESOURCES JOURNAL
Management Act and actual water use. Holway provides lessons learned
in Arizona that may be applicable to other arid regions experiencing
rapid urbanization. He also includes a to-do list for more effective water
management within Arizona.
*Chapter 12, "Water Supply and Management in Rural
Arizona," by the co-editors Katharine L. Jacobs and Linda S. Stitzer,
highlights the different management issues faced by the increasing
demand for water in the rural areas of the state. "There are essentially
two Arizonas: the major metropolitan areas and irrigation districts, with
multiple reliable sources of water, and the rest of the state, which has
limited water supply alternatives and limited planning information."
This is a policy discussion comparing the challenges in rural Arizona
with the way increased demand for water has been addressed in urban
areas. The authors provide a balanced account of policy considerations
but are not precise in their discussion of legal principles.
The following chapters are discussed separately because of the
different writing style, indicating potentially different readership, or
because they warrant particular mention.
*Chapter 2, "Shaped by Water, An Arizona Historical
Perspective," by Jack L. August and Grady Gammage, Jr., contains many
interesting anecdotes from Arizona water history, which the authors
characterize as dominated by an attitude of "us" versus "them" -the
"us" being interests seeking to acquire or protect water resources for use
within the state and "them" being everyone else from different water use
sectors or jurisdictions. To explain this concept, the authors state, "The
history of Arizona's struggles over the Colorado River illuminates
another key aspect of the social and political traditions of the state: the
tribal nature of water as a commodity." Perhaps a term other than
"tribal" to describe the "us" in Arizona would have been more appro-
priate since the Native American tribes possessing 28 percent of the
Arizona land area have always been viewed as "them" in Arizona water
history.
. Chapter 6, "Water Transactions: Enhancing Supply Reliability
during Drought," by Bonnie G. Colby, Dana R. Smith, and Katherine
Pittenger, does not provide the information expected based on the title.
The authors are not precise in their terminology, using "water
transactions" and "water transfers" interchangeably without definition
and without reference to the Arizona transfer and transportation
statutes, including Arizona Revised Statutes, section 45-172 (Transfer of
water rights; application; limitations' required consent), sections 45-541-
547 (Transportation of groundwater), or sections 45-551-559
(Withdrawal of groundwater for transportation to Active Management
Area). Though the text discusses the concepts contained in these statutes,
1084 [Vol. 46
BOOK REVIEWS
the failure to include the references is a serious omission and limits the
usefulness of this chapter, particularly since there is a reference to
Arizona Revised Statute section 45-544 (Transportation in areas not
subject to active management; damages; Little Colorado River plateau
and Parker groundwater basins; definitions), creating the impression
that this is the only relevant statute.
9 In Chapter 13, "Arizona's Recharge and Recovery Programs,"
Sharon B. Megdal describes the relationships among the Groundwater
Management Act, the Arizona Administrative Rules for Assured and
Adequate Water Supply, the Central Arizona Groundwater
Replenishment District, and the Arizona Water Banking Authority.
These entities, rules, and statutes are complex, and this chapter brings
coherence to the relationships. However, like Chapter 12, the usefulness
of the information is limited by the omission of citations to the code or to
the rules. Assured water supply and adequate water supply are
statutorily defined terms. Reference to the statutes alerts the reader to
this fact in addition to permitting the reader ready access to the material
that may be difficult to obtain since the adequate water supply
requirements are enforced through real estate subdivision reporting the
requirements for which are contained Arizona Revised Statutes sections
9-463 and 11-806 in addition to the water code.
* Chapter 14, "Tribal Water Claims and Settlements within
Regional Water Management," is by Dana R. Smith, a recent research
assistant to co-editor and author of this chapter, Bonnie G. Colby. With
so many experts on the topic of Indian water rights and water claims
within the state including academics, attorneys, government officials,
and current and former politicians, this reviewer questions the editor's
decision to author this chapter herself. Doing so appears to limit the
depth of discussion. This chapter presents an "outsiders" perspective of
tribal water settlements, focusing on the benefits to non-Indian
development. The chapter does not discuss the decreed rights to the
Colorado River held by five Arizona tribes and limits the discussion to
two of the eight tribal water settlements. The Chapter does not discuss
the economic disparities between tribal communities and the rest of the
state or the political and economic impetus to limit water development
by tribes. It offers a simplistic explanation of the law of Indian water
rights, including an attribution of legal principles to the Winters case that
developed during 100 years of subsequent litigation. At a minimum, the
authors should advise the reader of the limitations of this chapter to
avoid creating the impression of complete coverage of the topic.
On the whole, Arizona Water Policy: Management Innovations in an
Urbanizing, Arid Region is a useful resource as an overview of Arizona
water policy and will remain in reach on this reviewer's bookcase even
Fall 2006] 1085
NATURAL RESOURCES JOURNAL
though its value is limited by the omission of basic reference material. It
is not the book to pull from the shelf for lessons applicable to other arid
regions unless you are willing to take the time to evaluate each essay on
its own merit and discern for yourself which management innovations in
Arizona are applicable to other urbanizing, arid regions.
Margaret J. Vick
Margaret J. Vick, PLC, Tempe, Arizona
Associate, Institute for Sustainable Development
University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law
Adjunct Professor of Transboundary Water Law
University of New Mexico School of Law
Hydrology and Water Law-Bridging the Gap. Edited by J. Wallace & P.
Wouters. London: IWA Publishing, 2006. Pp. 360. $140.00 hardcover.
Freshwater is a fundamental resource integral to all ecological
and societal activities. After a century of development, the water sector
has faced a number of serious challenges such as degradation and
depletion of the resource; a sheer increase of actors competing for the
same resource; and a lack of communication between scientists and the
broad spectrum of water stakeholders including river basin
communities, water policy experts, lawyers, and water resource
managers. Against this background, the book by J. Wallace and P.
Wouters comes up as a collection of case studies with an objective to
demonstrate the successful and less successful examples of how water
law, policy, and science interact in responding to these challenges in real
basin management practices.
Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) has been
introduced as a concept and a strategy for policy change in the water
sector, taking over from the traditional understanding and practice of
water resources development mainly directed at policy, legislative, and
institutional changes on a sub-national, national, and international level.
IWRM is bringing forward approaches, including participation, consul-
tation, and inclusive political institutions, to enable the mediation of the
conflicting interests of water users and agencies that manage water.
Despite the abundance of literature on IWRM, achieving this goal is very
difficult in practice. It is clear, however that water law must be
considered as an integral part of the process.
Water law, particularly with its performance at the international
level, has been relentlessly criticized in many circles for being vague,
useless, and impotent. Yet, whenever a dispute arises at the local,
national, or international level, water law has often been introduced as a
panacea that can be used to design the framework for negotiations that
will reach agreed settlements between competing stakeholders. It is also
1086 [Vol. 46


Arizona Water Policy: Management Innovations in an Urbanizing, Arid Region, edited by Bonnie G. Colby & Katharine L. Jacobs

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Arizona Water Policy: Management Innovations in an Urbanizing, Arid Region, edited by Bonnie G. Colby & Katharine L. Jacobs

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