OPINION — Arizona needs to stop pretending growth and water scarcity are separate conversations. They are the same conversation. Every new subdivision, business park and resident needs the one thing the desert cannot manufacture: water.
The growth machine offers a comforting slogan: “Arizona is not running out of water. We are running out of cheap water.” That is like standing in front of an empty refrigerator and saying, “Relax. We just need to buy the expensive food.”
For decades, the Southwest treated the Colorado River like a bank account with guaranteed deposits. We kept withdrawing while the deposits shrank. Now the river is forcing a financial reckoning.
