The Economic Consequences of Allocating Groundwater to Competing Interest in the Santa Cruz Basin, Pima County, Arizona

摘要

The groundwater in the Tucson Basin is being drawn faster than it is replenished by nature. The water table is falling, giving rise to several conflicts between water users in the Basin. Several lawsuits are in progress, including an action by the Papago Tribe against some of the major water users in the Basin. Largely because of these difficulties, the State Legislature has established a commission to make proposals for the reform of Arizona's groundwater law. This report gives a short summary of a research project which has studied how water use in the Basin might be affected by changes in the availability of water. The report also gives an account of the effects that these changes in water use could have on the region's economy.