Working Rivers and Working Landscapes: Using Short-Term Water Use Agreements to Conserve Arizona's Riparian and Agricultural Heritage

Abstract

Desert water--our streams and rivers, springs, ponds and pools--allows both human and natural communities to survive in the arid Southwest. The working landscapes--farms and ranches--that span our watersheds are part of an intricate system of natural and man-made elements that support and protect rural communities, biodiversity, cultural resources, and sweeping western vistas. Traditionally, river systems and watersheds were maintained by a balance between natural processes and human uses: fire, flood, and grazing herbivores. These influences provided a mosaic of “disturbances” that allowed diverse biota to thrive in riparian habitats.1 The combined stressors of drought, climate change, and economic growth have upset this balance. Many water conservation and restoration projects are being undertaken in Arizona with varying degrees of success. Few of these projects take into account the importance of the symbiotic relationship between human and natural use of water systems and riparian and river health. By incentivizing partnerships that address the needs of this symbiotic relationship, the State of Arizona may be able to reach a condition of lasting water and landscape resilience. Arizona’s water management regime provides few incentives for landowners to proactively conserve and manage their water in a manner that balances natural resources with human use. Most water conservation mechanisms available require a choice between agricultural water use and environmental flows. But ranchers, farmers, and rural landowners have put water to a beneficial use for generations and have stewarded our vast working landscapes and watersheds. Working landscapes can act as a modern continuation of historic disturbance: “occasional trampling by livestock, or periodic disturbance of bank and stream channels by livestock, may mimic natural forms of disturbance that recreate early successional stages favorable for population expansion.” Active management can be utilized to mimic the most beneficial aspects of historic use. This can be accomplished through incentivized partnerships such as short-term water and groundwater use agreements with agricultural landowners to protect native fish populations, surface flows, and riparian habitat. Short-term water use agreements are private contractual agreements in which a water user agrees not to pump or divert water for a period of time. Depending upon the needs of the particular hydrologic and ecologic system that is targeted for conservation, an appropriate surface water or groundwater use agreement may be implemented for a term of months or for a period of less than five years, so to not risk forfeiture of a surface water right.4 Short-term agreements can be tailored to mimic seasonal flood flows or provide water to help reestablish riparian vegetation. The water right or claim does not change hands; rather, its use is temporarily contractually dedicated to a conservation purpose, allowing the continuation of agricultural or other water uses.