While Mother Nature has given us a short reprieve from the water woes of the Western United States, the underlying problem of having too many people reliant on the Colorado River basin isn’t going away, it’s accelerating. Conservation and smart water management are essential, and can help bridge a gap to the future, but long-term the need to augment fresh water supplies for Western states must be a priority for our elected officials. All options must be on the table.
As your Senator, Kari Lake will make the development and construction of a system to deliver a new source of fresh water to Arizona and the West one of her major priorities. Kari knows there are multiple options that need to be explored, and the time to do so is now.
First, we need to form an engineering working group in partnership with the states, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Land Management, and other appropriate agencies to examine engineering possibilities and challenges for each of the various options, to include desalination, river pipelining, and any other viable options to increase fresh water supply and availability throughout the Mountain West and Southwest.
Second, federal funds need to be identified and deployed to construct both the major delivery systems, and to assist rural communities in rebuilding local water delivery systems so that – as much as possible – we are able to get these communities transferred over from groundwater sourcing to these new systems, preserving our natural environment and the water tables that feed streams and rivers.
Further, Kari Lake believes and would seek a formal federal declaration that a new water delivery system for Western states is a matter of national and economic security, and as such should be exempted from the extremely lengthy environmental review processes and legal challenges which are used to derail and drive up the cost of major infrastructure projects.
In the meantime, Kari will work with existing stakeholders to shield Arizona farmers, ranchers, and citizens from unnecessary cuts while protecting the long-term condition and viability of the Colorado River Basin as an unmatched resource, recreational, and environmental asset for generations to come.
