PEAK WATER

I have written before about the obvious constraint that the looming water shortage places on growth. This is just another piece of evidence.

Pessimism grows on CAP water shortage
By Tony Davis
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.26.2007

(excerpts)

For many years, everyone familiar with the Colorado River knew it was oversubscribed and that shortages caused by droughts would force periodic cuts in water supplied to the Central Arizona Project and other users.

But it's become clear that the river's outlook is worse than even the worst-case scenario predicted by a federally funded study written 12 years ago, according to one of the study's authors.

"I have no doubt that within the next five to 10 years, we will be in a shortage," said David Modeer, Tucson Water's director and a member of the three-county board that manages the CAP. "It does not look good. If everything everyone is saying about the longtime climate or global warming is true, it looks worse for the future."

In a report released last week, the National Academy of Sciences predicted climate change will likely mean even less water for the Colorado in the future.