According to Mark Lewis, the VP of Engineering for the Water Resource Institute, Arizona has enough water for our growing population because of our long-running conservation efforts. The focus of water conservation now is helping farmers and businesses to increase their efficiency so we get more “crop per drop” on the existing farms and businesses.
Over the last 60 years we have seen a steady increase in population yet a decrease in water
consumption, per acre foot, since 1980. The SRP renewable water supply system works from a 110 years of water conservatory mindset. With this mindset came the development of the Central Arizona Canal Project to capture water from flood events over the last 30 years. There continue to be water conservation technology that develops to help farmers utility water more efficiently.
Lastly, the future look at desalinating our vast supply of ground water in the Yuma area. We have a lot of ground water that is just too salty to drink, but as desalinating technology comes down in price it will become a more viable option to utilize our underground water supply.
The city is committed to conservation and have plans to ensure that our growing population does not experience a water shortage in the future.
Reference: Arizona Journal of Real Estate