In an effort to promote use of Arizona's CAP water entitlement, the Central Arizona Conservation District approved an expenditure to develop in lieu recharge projects. CAWCD has since received nine requests to participate in indirect recharge projects, with three obtaining all necessary permits and agreements to begin operations. They are the Central Arizona Irrigation and Drainage District, the Maricopa- Stanfield Irrigation and Drainage District, and the Roosevelt Water Conservation Recharge Projects.

The Arizona Department of Water Resources (DWR) mailed more than 570,000 certified letters to property owners in the Lower Gila River Watershed The certified letters contained a court summons regarding the Gila River General Adjudication, a proceeding in the Superior Court in Maricopa County to establish the extent and priority of all claims to water of the Gila River This was the largest certified mailing ever undertaken in Arizona

One of the most significant environmental events to occur in Arizona over the last several years is the enactment of the new state Environmental Quality Act The law, which became effective on August 13, 1986, emerged after several years of vigorous debate and conflict among the state's myriad interests, and represents a consensus achieved at the urging of then Governor Bruce Babbitt.

The Governor's CAP Task Force has released a report that is as noteworthy for what it fails to recommend as for what it does (see accompanying article). The task force declined to call for any major new taxes to bail out irrigation districts so they could continue to use large portions of the state's Colorado River allocation.

The Tohono O'odham (formerly Papago) Nation and the U.S. government filed suit in 1975 against groundwater pumpers in Pima County, seeking tribal water rights under the Winters doctrine. After extensive negotiations, Congress passed the Southern Arizona Water Resources Settlement Act (SAWRSA) in 1982, which called for the Nation to give up its Winters claim in exchange for 66,000 a-f of CAP water, 10,000 a-f of groundwater rights, and financial assistance in putting the water to use. Ten years and millions of dollars later, no water has been delivered, no long-term supply has been identified, no consensus has been reached on how to use the water, the lawsuit has not been dismissed, and Congress is being asked to amend SAWRSA. The most significant change from a decade ago is that today's conflict is not between the Nation and outsiders, but rather is within the Nation.

The cost of assuring clean water in America's public water systems is about to get a lot more expensive. And while the financial burden will be felt by nearly all water providers and their customers, small systems are especially vulnerable to the changing regulatory requirements.

Lake Pleasant behind the recently completed New Waddell Dam held some 150,000 acre-feet of water prior to the January-February storms. In early January, the Bureau of Reclamation asked the CAWCD to hold the elevation of Lake Pleasant constant for 30 days so the stability of the New Waddell Dam could be tested. Instead, the dam received a different, real-world test, as runoff from January- February storms increased the volume of Lake Pleasant to nearly 450,000 acre-feet. Reservoir capacity is 800,000 acre-feet.

The Central Arizona Water Conservation District's plans to promote indirect recharge (March AWR, p.1) have induced Central Arizona Project farmers to contract for the use of up to 237,500 acre-feet (af) of Colorado River water this year in addition to their normal orders. This boosts the total amount of CAP water that may be used this year by farmers in Arizona to 412,500 af. Actual usage will depend on other economic factors of putting land into production.

Major increases in the cost of Central Arizona Project water may go into effect by January 1994, Central Arizona Water Conservation District board members learned at their January meeting. Continued disappointing water sales might cause the current $52/acre-foot price for municipal and industrial water to be elevated into the $65-$125 range. Other revenue-enhancing options are limited. The CAWCD's property tax levy is at its legislatively-mandated limit, and the state's new super-majority requirement makes any tax increase a hard sell

Speculation abounded as to whether President Bush would sign the Omnibus Water Bill. He did so on October 30. Now Arizona and other western states are tallying their gains from this new piece of federal legislation.