Governor approves filling 4 positions for Dept of Water Resources

Governor Doug Ducey, in his State of the State address today, called for filling four positions in the Arizona Department of Water Resources, with one hydrologist and three planners.   ADWR staffing has decreased from 250 before the Great Recession to 125 today.
 
The Governor said,

"If there’s one thing Arizona is best in the nation at – it’s water. We sit in the Capitol city in one of the largest metropolitan areas in the nation in the middle of a desert.   Thanks to revolutionary planning efforts like our 1980 Groundwater Management Act, and leaders from Carl Hayden to Mo Udall to Jon Kyl, Arizona has grown and thrived.

We’re building on that, and we have a plan in motion. Right now, a team of our top water experts, users and providers are charting the path forward. I’ve directed them to:

• Investigate new, long-term sources for water in our state.
• Explore additional conservation opportunities.
• And identify future infrastructure needs so we don’t end up like sorry California

I’ve also given the green light to the Arizona Department of Water Resources to use existing dollars to hire new staff that the water community has been requesting for years – experts who can take these plans and make them work."