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Bob Christie | Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX – Former Gov. Doug Ducey’s multibillion-dollar plan for a desalination plant and other projects to supplement Arizona’s imperiled water supply is still alive and well despite budget constraints. He has the support of his successor.
But Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs’ budget plan released on Friday denies a promised $333 million deposit this year of a $1 billion fund to jump-start the program. money is reduced to just $33 million. And this follows last year’s nearly 50% cut, allowing officials to launch projects with only half the funding Mr. Ducey and his lawmakers promised two years ago.
That’s despite Hobbs saying in midweek that the state structure that Ducey and the Legislature expanded to fund water-raising projects with promising private companies is “still alive and well.”
The head of the Water Infrastructure Financing Agency, a former Ducey staffer who also worked on water issues for former Sen. Jeff Flake, told a state House committee last week that the government would build power plants or other facilities to bring in more water. He said the contract would be signed. To Arizona – could be finalized by the end of the year.
In addition to the desalination plant backed by an Israeli company backed by Mr. Ducey, it has accepted dozens of basic project proposals. The company plans to solicit formal project plans by the middle of this year, with an independent board of directors to consider them with a view to selecting one or more by December.
The agency, commonly referred to as WIFA, will be reorganized in 2022 with a traditional mission of identifying and supporting ways to bring new water to Arizona, as well as promoting conservation efforts and helping fund water infrastructure projects. There is.
Mr. Ducey has supported a desalination project in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez that would pump water north to Arizona, and had hoped to reach a deal before leaving office in January 2023.
However, the matter ran into problems with the WIFA board and some members who expressed concerns about the lack of transparency and contracts with Israeli companies. Ultimately, the board agreed to continue dialogue with IDE Technologies, but not exclusively.
The power plant, which could cost $5 billion to $10 billion and be built with private funding and is still in the works, would allow the WIFA board to increase the amount of water supplied from outside Arizona. Opened the process to any project.
The state’s cash could help secure funding for the project by guaranteeing that private companies will buy water produced either directly or by Arizona water users. Customers end up paying for more expensive water at higher rates.
But after the original $333 million payment was rolled into the agency’s new “water increment” fund in the 2023 budget, lawmakers cut that amount by $144 million in this year’s budget.
The remaining funds will be used to drill new wells in Gilbert and Peoria on the outskirts of the Phoenix metropolitan area, rebuild a critical flood control levee on the Little Colorado River in northeastern Arizona’s Navajo County, and build a water recharge basin in northwestern Arizona’s Mojave County. .
WIFA Secretary Chuck Podolak hopes to restore this funding in the next budget, along with the additional $333 million needed to increase it to the promised $1 billion. He said cutting future funding would actually hurt Arizona’s ability to attract private partners to come up with the more than $5 billion needed to build power plants and other water sources.
“A project of this scale cannot be done by the state alone,” he told a House committee focused on water issues Tuesday.
“We rely on external partners,” Podolak said, “and WIFA does everything in its power to be a good partner and show that we are serious and that we go out and form partnerships. “It shows that we can bring in new water.” We’ll make it work. And we hope the country will support us on that. ”
Podolak acknowledged that there is debate and opposition to plans to bring new water into the state, or, in his words, “grow the pipes,” and why the state should consider conservation or recovery of water from sewage. He said he regularly gets asked questions about why not focus on increasing the state’s supply through treatment plants and other cheaper methods.
“But if you talk to the water suppliers, customers and utilities who have been responsible for delivering water every hour of every day for decades and centuries, we find that we are finding new sources of water. It’s clear we need to find it and bring it to the state,” he said.
Hobbs spokesman Christian Slater told reporters after the budget was released that WIFA has $500 million in reserves and will continue to evaluate its needs as they develop.
“Obviously securing our water future is a top priority for the governor, so that definitely continues to be a priority,” he said.
Rep. David Livingston (R-Peoria), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said $333 million in deposits remains in the House budget proposal but is likely to be reduced.
“It starts there, but I don’t think it will end there,” Livingston said.
He agreed with Hobbs that WIFA is doing good things, such as providing state funding to promote water conservation.
“But finding a new water source? Maybe that was too much,” Livingston said.
Former House Speaker Andy Tobin, who heads Ducey’s executive branch and is a member of the WIFA board, is pushing for the roughly $500 million that Podlak and the rest of the board are asking for in this year’s budget. He said he was against it.
“I said it looks like we’re not paying any attention to the budget issues that we have in Congress, and people are trying to fix the problem now,” he told Capitol Media Services. I opposed them asking for $500 million because we were prepared to spend the money if we weren’t.”
All of this leaves WIFA far short of the $1 billion that Mr. Ducey and lawmakers had planned to donate, but it still has the responsibility of finding new, large-scale sources of water.
We would like to invite our readers to submit public comments on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.
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