Daniel Salzler No. 1339
EnviroInsight.org Six Items January 2, 2026
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- ADWR Releases New Basin Studies & Factsheets. Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) has released 13 new Supply and Demand Reports (SDRs) in their latest installment of an initiative that began in 2023 to develop high-level groundwater “budgets” for 51 Arizona basins. These reports are intended to help support local planning for water augmentation and conservation. The SDRs are structured as water budgets that focus on total inflows and outflows at the basin scale. The basins covered in the 2025 release include Hualapai Valley, Safford, and Little Colorado River Plateau.
Additionally, ADWR has released 34 new one-page factsheets to accompany each of the currently existing Supply and Demand Reports. The factsheets provide an at-a-glance reference that includes maps, breakdowns of water use by sector, and future projections under different scenarios.
The reports and factsheets are all freely available to view and download on ADWR’s website. For more information go online to n https://www.azwater.gov/supply-demand
2. Ahhh Chooooo…The Origin of Kleenex. Here in the southwest, many are suffering from winter allergies, colds and flu. A lot of sneezing and nose blowing keep the air filed with not-so-healthy atomized yuk filled with bacteria and viruses for others to inhale.
To assist in keeping our sneezes less shareable, we quickly grab for a Kleenex tissue. Once used, we toss the “dirtied” tissue into a trash receptacle. But, when did Kleenex tissues become available.
According to “World History Facts” (https://historyfacts.com/world-history/article/7-everyday-products-that-came-out-of-wwi/?email=azwatershed@aol.com&lctg=32138bc6-62bb-4bf6-8daa-29b1c5fc56d5&sub_level=L1&sub_source=email_daily&utm_campaign=3178033924&utm_content=email_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_source=20138862),
During World War I, Kimberly-Clark developed a thin, highly absorbent crepe paper used as a filter in gas masks — a vital piece of equipment in trench warfare. When the war ended, the company once again found itself looking to repurpose a product.
Kimberly-Clark of Wisconsin, cleverly remarketed its cellucotton sheets as makeup and cold cream removers, and launched the sheets in 1924 with the name Kleenex.
It wasn’t long before people began recommending the product as an ideal tissue for blowing noses during colds. So, in another astute marketing move, Kimberly-Clark started promoting Kleenex as “the handkerchiefs you can throw away” — creating the brand that’s now synonymous with disposable tissues.
3. Programs Providing Water For Areas Hit By Homebuilding Moratorium. Two programs intended to bolster water supplies for housing in Arizona’s fast-growing, drought-stricken areas are gaining momentum.
Why it matters: Gov. Katie Hobbs in 2023 imposed a moratorium on homebuilding in the rapidly growing Buckeye and Queen Creek communities unless they used water sources other than groundwater.
- A similar restriction was imposed in Pinal County in 2021.
Context: Under Arizona’s landmark 1980 Groundwater Management Act, subdivisions in urbanized areas must demonstrate they have at least a 100-year water supply.
State of play: Two state programs enacted over the past two years could get water flowing again for new housing in areas subject to the moratoriums.
- In the wake of the moratorium, the Hobbs administration created the Alternative Designation of Assured Water Supply (ADAWS) program, giving water providers new paths to demonstrate they have the required 100-year supplies.
- Last legislative session, Hobbs signed a bill creating the “ag-to-urban” program in which agricultural land, typically more water-intensive than single-family homes, is retired so the water can be used for new subdivisions. Source: AXIOS
4. Water Is For Fighting: Colorado River Group Describes History Of Water Disputes, Looks For Solutions. LAS VEGAS (CN) — Water is like a set of assets in a bankruptcy hearing.
In both scenarios — water and bankruptcy — there’s a limited pool of resources that must be divided among multiple people. The question in either situation: What method should be used to do so?
People want certainty and the resolution of conflict, said Rhett Larson, a water law professor at Arizona State University.
“But certainty and peace have a price,” he added.
Larson spoke Tuesday in Las Vegas on the first day of the Colorado River Water Users Association’s three-day gathering. He drew a bright line between bankruptcy and water fights as he detailed the history of the Colorado River, and the states and people who have battled for it over centuries.
But while water is a valuable asset, like uranium, it is more than that. Some Indigenous tribes include the Colorado River in their origin stories. It’s used to cool off in the summer and in key religious ceremonies.
“Nobody’s using uranium to be baptized,” Larson said. “It’s just a different resource.”
The nation has experienced its share of problems over water. Larson noted the best way to ensure future conflict is to make a river a political boundary, a common occurrence.
Another problem is how the nation has resolved water disputes. Prior appropriation — meaning the first person to the water has first right to it — can lead those with rights further down the line without it in lean years.
Legal battles between states, which happen regularly over water, go to the U.S. Supreme Court. Only one out of nine justices has lived west of the Mississippi River — a composition Larson intimated wasn’t ideal for the Colorado River Basin.
Alternatively, states can have Congress divvy up water resources, though that process also has pitfalls, Larson said.
Agreements, or compacts, between states is a third option, though Congress must approve all compacts and disputes will still land before Supreme Court justices.
Those agreements have led to eyebrow-raising annals in the history books. Larson described spies from Arizona as part of the 1928 Boulder Canyon Project Act informing on California’s actions. That led Arizona’s governor to send a “Navy” up the Colorado River to stop the project.
Water disputes in the early 1940s led Germany to conclude that America wouldn’t become involved in World War II, as it surmised the nation would fall into a civil war over water, he added.
Arguments over water continue to the present day.
Jeff Kightlinger and Jim Lochhead both were involved in discussions for the 2003 Colorado River water delivery agreement and the 2007 interim guidelines for Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Lochhead described the meetings as acrimonious and filled with posturing, but solutions — though temporary — did spring from them.
Lochhead said the 2003 agreement helped California with a “soft landing,” as it wasn’t receiving as much water as it once did. The agreement also sought to determine how many acre-feet of water — the amount of water to cover an acre up to a foot — the upper basin of the Colorado River should send to the lower basin, and determine a minimum amount.
“Kind of sounds familiar,” Lochhead said.
Reduced water coming from the Colorado River soon led to the realization the 2003 negotiation plans would need changes, Kightlinger said.
The 2007 guidelines led to more talks in 2012. However, those later discussions had no mandate for action, Lochhead said.
Meanwhile, water experts’ worst predictions about water shortages appeared to become reality.
The problems of water availability are nuanced, Larson said. Golf courses require some 138,000 acre-feet of water a year from the Colorado River. Power plants need 162,000 acre-feet a year. He said some people might argue water conservation is found in cutting off golf courses.
Growing alfalfa takes 1.5 million acre-feet a year, he added.
People grow alfalfa because it feeds into the dairy and beef industries. It’s grown in the desert because of the climate. Alfalfa might enjoy 12 cuttings a year in the desert and three a year in Georgia, for example.
History teaches a lesson, Larson said. Failing to treat Native American tribes as coequal sovereigns has created challenges that exist today. Tribes must be included in water management.
Also, if litigation creates a catalyst for a solution, it’s good. However, most cases become bogged down in the court system.
Lochhead and Kightlinger agreed.
Asked to pull from some 25 years of experience, the men echoed Larson: Avoid litigation when possible and take action.
“At some point, you need to stop the blame game,” Lochhead said, adding people should ask what can be accomplished instead of stating what can’t be done.
“We’re going to follow the Nike slogan and ‘Just Do It,’” Kightlinger said. Source: Courthouse News Service Dec 16, 2025.
5. Even An Average Snowpack This Year Could Spell Trouble For Lake Powell. Snow season is off to a rough start for Utah and its neighbors. Most of the West is in a snow drought, with so little white stuff covering the ground that the region hit a 25-year low.
If the trend continues, it could be a recipe for disaster for the Colorado River and its reservoirs. That includes the nation’s two largest, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, which prop up a system that provides water to communities on the Wasatch Front and tens of millions of other Americans across the West.
A new report from more than a dozen Colorado River experts projects that even near-average snowpack this winter could send the two reservoirs to record lows in 2026.
“At the end of next summer, that amount would be lower than the storage has been since Powell and Mead initially filled,” said report co-author Jack Schmidt, director of the Center for Colorado River Studies at Utah State University. “So, we would be in unprecedented territory.”
A reservoir storage crisis would shape how much water is available next year for Utah agriculture, which accounts for around three-fourths of the state’s use, as well as for cities and the environment. That’s why basinwide water consumption should be urgently reduced, he said.Source: KUER radio.
6. January Is National Radon Action Month. You can’t see, smell or taste radon, but it could be present at a dangerous level in your home. Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer deaths among nonsmokers in America and claims the lives of about 21,000 Americans each year. In fact, the EPA and the U.S. Surgeon General urge all Americans to protect their health by testing their homes, schools and other buildings for radon.
Exposure to radon is a preventable health risk and testing radon levels in your home can help prevent unnecessary exposure. If a high radon level is detected in your home, you can take steps to fix the problem to protect yourself and your family.
A Few Things You Can Do During National Radon Action Month
Test your home – EPA and the U.S. Surgeon General recommend that all homes in the U.S. be tested for radon. Testing is easy and inexpensive. Learn more abouttesting your home, including how to obtain an easy-to-use test kit.($13 at Home Depot + $20 lab fee)
Spread the word. Spend time during National Radon Action Month .Tell your family and friends about the health risk of radon. Encourage them to test their homes.View EPA’s free radon publications.
Buy a radon-resistant home – Read more about radon-resistant new construction atBuilding Radon Out: A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Build Radon-Resistant Homes (pdf) (5.35 MB, April 2001, EPA 402/K01/002) . mBuild Green: It’s Easy to Build New Homes Radon-Resistant …”The good news is you can build your customers a safer, healthier, radon-resistant home. Source: Environmental Marketer Newsletter.
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