Water and Tribal Lands
The Groundwater Management Act was passed to try to make it more difficult to deplete Phoenix’s water supply. Read the passage below about how the legislation works.
The Groundwater Management Act (GMA) of 1980 . . . limits groundwater pumping in the Phoenix region and, until 1998, required developers to verify that projects had a 100-year water supply that would not further deplete the aquifer. . . . The indiscriminate proliferation of new homes was replaced by a managed process in which subdivisions were forced to refrain from unrestrained groundwater use and usually had to connect to existing water infrastructure.
Source: Morrison Institute for Public Policy “Hits and Misses: Fast Growth in Metropolitan Phoenix." September 2000. http://www.asu.edu/copp/morrison/
As you can see in the map, Indian Reservations comprise a significant portion of land near the Phoenix metropolitan region. Read the passage below about the role that some tribal lands have played in Phoenix’s urban growth.
Metropolitan Phoenix: Land Ownership and Urbanized Land, 1995
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Source: Morrison Institute for Public Policy “Hits and Misses:Fast Growth in Metropolitan Phoenix." September 2000.http://www.asu.edu/copp/morrison/
Cities and developers can . . . turn to Indian tribes for water. The leapfrog community of Anthem, 35 miles north of downtown Phoenix, relies on 10,000 acre-feet of water a year leased from the Ak-Chin Indians.
Last month, Congress put the finishing touches on a comprehensive water bill championed by Arizona Republican Senator Jon Kyl that will have a profound effect on the future of Arizona and its Indian tribes.
The central component of the bill awards 653,500 acre-feet of water to the Gila Indian River Community to settle water-rights claims dating back a century. The Gila Indians and other tribes are expected to use some of this water for agriculture and community development. But they will also be leasing copious quantities back to growth-crazed cities.
The water deals the tribes cut with cities and developers will make Indian gaming revenue look like chump change.
Source: Dougherty, John. “A Chance to Focus Inward.” Phoenix New Times (Arizona). December 9, 2004. Copyright 2004 Phoenix New Times, LLC.
Questions:
1. In what ways does the GMA try to limit urban growth? Do these restrictions seem effective?
2. Why might it have taken a century for the Arizona State legislature to settle the Gila Indians’ water-rights claims?
3. What incentive do tribes have to lease water to developers?
