514 #ClimateEmergency #USelections #Arizona

"One issue will decide Arizona’s future. Nobody’s campaigning on it."
by Jake Bittle for Grist [Oct 22, 2024] [Audio available]

grist.org/politics/arizona-ele…

Quotes:
"The fate of the state’s water depends on this election. For politicians and voters, it’s mostly an afterthought."

"That issue is water. In Pinal County, which Seaman (D) represents, water shortages mean that farmers no longer have access to the Colorado River, formerly the lifeblood of their cotton and alfalfa empires../\..The state has placed a moratorium on new housing development in parts of the county, as part of an effort to protect dwindling groundwater resources."

"Over the past four years, Arizona has become a poster child for water scarcity in the United States. Between decades of unsustainable groundwater pumping and a once-in-a-millenium drought, fueled by climate change, water sources in every region of the state are under threat."

"Between decades of unsustainable groundwater pumping and a once-in-a-millenium drought, fueled by climate change, water sources in every region of the state are under threat."

"Arizona voters know that they’re deciding the country’s future. The outcome of state legislative races in swing districts like Seaman’s will determine who controls the divided state legislature, where Democrats are promoting new water restrictions and Republicans are fighting to protect thirsty industries like real estate and agriculture."

"For these lawmakers’ voters, topics like abortion, the economy, and public safety are drawing far more attention than the water in their taps, and it will be these issues that drive the most people to the polls."

"It’s not hard to see why hot-button issues like immigration and the cost of living are on the minds of Arizona voters: The state sits on the U.S.-Mexico border and has experienced some of the highest rates of inflation in the country over the past few years."

"This avalanche of campaign advertising seldom mentions water. During a week reporting in the state, I saw exactly one ad that focused on the issue. It was a billboard in Tucson announcing that Kirsten Engel, the Democratic candidate for a pivotal congressional seat, supports “Protecting Arizona from Drought” — not exactly the most substantive engagement with the issue."

"The reason for this avoidance is simple, according to Nick Ponder, a vice president of government affairs at HighGround, a leading Arizona political strategy firm. He said that while many voters in the state rank water among their top three or four issues, most don’t have a detailed understanding of water policy — meaning it’s unlikely that they’ll vote based on how candidates say they’ll handle water issues."

"“They understand that we’re in a desert, and that we have water challenges — in particular groundwater and the Colorado River — but I don’t think that they understand how to best manage that,” he told Grist."

"Hobbs and the Democrats want to limit or prohibit new farmland in rural areas, while simultaneously making it harder for homebuilders around Phoenix and Casa Grande to resume building new subdivisions. This would slow down, but not reverse, the decline in water levels around the state"

"“We had so many meetings, and we’ve never gotten closer,” said Priya Sundareshan, a Democratic state senator who is the party’s foremost expert on water issues in the legislature. “Now we’re in campaign mode.”

"Another reason for the relative campaign silence on water issues is that the regions where water is most threatened../\..tend to be represented by the politicians who are most dismissive of water conservation efforts, and vice versa. Cochise County, where an enormous dairy operation called Riverview has residents up in arms over vanishing well water, backed Trump by almost 20 points in 2020; La Paz County, where a massive Saudi farming operation has drained local aquifers, backed the former president by almost 40 points."

More read the article.

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