The central challenge for Arizona and many other arid regions in the world is keeping a sustainable water supply in the face of rapid population growth and other competing demands. This book highlights new approaches that Arizona has pioneered for managing its water needs. The state has burgeoning urban areas, large agricultural regions, water dependent habitats for endangered fish and wildlife, and a growing demand for water-based recreation. A multi-year drought and climate-related variability in water supply complicate the intense competition for water. Written by well-known Arizona water experts, the essays in this book address these issues from academic, professional, and policy perspectives that include economics, climatology, law, and engineering. Among the innovations explored in the book is Arizona‘s Groundwater Management Act. Arizona is not alone in its challenges. As one of the seven states in the Colorado River Basin that depend heavily on the river, Arizona must cooperate, and sometimes compete, with other state, tribal, and federal governments. One institution that furthers regional cooperation is the water bank, which encourages groundwater recharge of surplus surface water during wet years so that the water remains available during dry years. The Groundwater Management Act imposes conservation requirements and establishes planning and investment programs in renewable water supplies. The essays in Arizona Water Policy are accessible to a broad policy-oriented and nonacademic readership. The book explores Arizona‘s water management and extracts lessons that are important for arid and semi-arid areas worldwide.

The desire for economic growth in Phoenix, Arizona has promoted the growth of the citys population and the expansion of the city itself. Phoenix has grown from a small desert town into one of the largest cities in the United States. Phoenixs economic development after World War II enabled it to retain its workforce and employers, while attracting new workers and companies.However, Phoenix is located in the desert of the Salt River Valley in Central Arizona. Phoenix has always had to face the challenge of water security. The emergence and intensification of climate change will force the city to struggle even more in the 21st century as the population increases and demand for fresh water grows, while supply remains scarce. 1) This thesis will argue that population growth and a political system that prioritizes economic growth have been, and will continue to be, the catalysts for Phoenixs increasing water demand. Phoenixs population has grown unchecked because of the desire for economic growth, and the lack of population control measures. 2) This thesis will also argue that Phoenixs city officials have not adequately addressed the threats to water supply that are posed by population growth. 3) This thesis will argue that the city government ultimately bears responsibility for any impending water shortages that the city will face in the 21st century. 4) Finally, this thesis will use historical water consumption data to examine quantities of water that could have been conserved if water demand levels had been lower at earlier times in Phoenixs history.

Despite its tiny size and seeming marginality to world affairs, the Central American republic of Costa Rica has long been considered an important site for experimentation in cutting-edge environmental policy. From protected area management to ecotourism to payment for environmental services (PES) and beyond, for the past half-century the country has successfully positioned itself at the forefront of novel trends in environmental governance and sustainable development. Yet the increasingly urgent dilemma of how to achieve equitable economic development in a world of ecosystem decline and climate change presents new challenges, testing Costa Rica’s ability to remain a leader in innovative environmental governance. This book explores these challenges, how Costa Rica is responding to them, and the lessons this holds for current and future trends regarding environmental governance and sustainable development. It provides the first comprehensive assessment of successes and challenges as they play out in a variety of sectors, including agricultural development, biodiversity conservation, water management, resource extraction, and climate change policy. By framing Costa Rica as an “ecolaboratory,” the contributors in this volume examine the lessons learned and offer a path for the future of sustainable development research and policy in Central America and beyond.