Many of us have had this charming experience: Play hide and seek with a 4-year-old, and often the child will cover its own eyes, assuming that if she or he can鈥檛 see, then they can鈥檛 be seen.
This philosophy is a lot less charming when it forms the basis of rural water policy in Arizona.
Agriculture uses some 72% of the state鈥檚 precious water resources. Much of that use is unregulated and unmonitored. And the $23.3 billion industry likes it that way.
But many water experts in the state 鈥 including some rural leaders 鈥 understand that has to change.
Travis Lingenfelter, chair of the Mohave County Board of Supervisors, and Holly Irwin, his La Paz County counterpart, are among them.
As Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services reported, 鈥淚t鈥檚 not about taking water from anybody,鈥 Irwin said last week. 鈥淚t鈥檚 trying to protect what we have in the aquifers.
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鈥淲ells are going dry,鈥 Irwin said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 an indicator that something鈥檚 wrong, that we at least need to start taking a look at how much water鈥檚 being pumped out, and where.鈥
The remarks were in reaction to the fact that Arizona Farm Bureau Federation President Stefanie Smallhouse and state Sen. Sine Kerr of Buckeye decided to walk out of talks about rural water quantity problems in the state.
They were named to Gov. Katie Hobbs鈥 Water Policy Council, to which they had been invited to represent the perspective of rural water users. That perspective is largely 鈥 but not exclusively 鈥 agricultural.
Meanwhile, Rep. Gail Griffin of Sierra Vista, who remains on Hobbs鈥 council but is an ally of Kerr and Smallhouse, took exception to Lingenfelter鈥檚 assertion that she, Smallhouse and Kerr are 鈥渁cting like small children who are not getting their way.鈥
Griffin said Hobbs鈥 council process is 鈥渆xtremely flawed,鈥 and added, 鈥淲hen it is exposed, what do they do? Personal attacks.鈥
For his part, Lingenfelter was equally acerbic.
鈥淭he state of Arizona simply cannot allow one stakeholder group that uses 72% of Arizona鈥檚 water to produce 1.5% of Arizona鈥檚 GDP to continue to dominate the conversation on long-term security for our finite rural groundwater,鈥 he said.
That鈥檚 hard to argue with, although Kerr tried, rejecting the measurement of agriculture鈥檚 contribution to the state in terms of GDP. Which is fair, but of course, misses the main point.
The Farm Bureau Federation and Smallhouse released a statement expressing 鈥渄isappointment鈥 in the 鈥渨orkings of the Rural Groundwater Committee of the Governor鈥檚 Water Policy Council,鈥 saying the 鈥渃urrent process has been deaf to the concerns and priorities of Arizona鈥檚 farm and ranch families, and we must withdraw from it entirely.鈥
The federation is correct in enumerating the many advantages and virtues of Arizona agriculture, and the organization鈥檚 efforts on behalf of its membership are commendable. But its call for a 鈥渘ew and innovative approach for the protection of water users鈥 seems like code for rejecting everything about the current approach.
As Irwin points out, 鈥淲e don鈥檛 even know what鈥檚 underneath the ground, yet we continue to allow for this massive pumping to continue without doing any modeling or hydrology studies.鈥
Walking away from these discussions is very much like not monitoring how much water is being pumped. It鈥檚 hiding your eyes and thinking the problem will disappear.
Hobbs deserves credit for creating a bipartisan council to tackle these tough issues, and it鈥檚 unfortunate that this move makes this issue feel much more partisan.
Water is not 鈥 or should not be 鈥 politics. Water is life. And Arizonans should know that better than just about anybody. (Indeed, indigenous Arizonans do: In Tohono O鈥檕dham, 鈥淲ater is Life鈥 is Su:dagi鈥檕 Wud T-Duakud, and in Yaqui: Va鈥檃m Yee Hiapsitua. Those words are taken seriously.)
The Arizona Farm Bureau Federation is 鈥淭he Voice of Arizona Agriculture,鈥 its website trumpets.
That voice should be at the table in this discussion, so key to the state鈥檚 future 鈥 not sniping from the sidelines.
These latest moves feel like another childish game 鈥 kick the can down the road. By the time the state鈥檚 water can is finally retrieved, it may well be empty.
