krw wrote:


It's my understanding (I live 2k mi. from AZ) that Phoenix gets
their water from underground, not the Rio Grande and has plenty
more where that came form.

Phoenix reports that it gets almost all of its water from the Salt and
Verde and Colorado Rivers and relies on snowfall in the mountains for
that water. While they do store excess water underground, their main
sources of water are the rivers, and what they draw from there is not
available downstream.

The idea that underground water is inexhaustible is laughable. There
have been plenty of instances of aqifiers being overdrawn and either
exhausted or contaminated. Many communities have recognized this and it
it common that partially treated wastewater us used for landscaping
purposes.

I think I read that our fastest growing communities are in Arizona, or
other desert locales, and as they grow, we will have to become more and
more aggressive in managing out water supplies.