Not Just Tilting at Windmills

Abstract

In the fall of 2014, Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy (MI) convened a group of water experts from across the state to explore whether there was a role for a dedicated water policy center housed within the Institute. Established in 1982, Morrison Institute is the state’s leading non-partisan policy think tank. Water, sustainability and growth have been focal areas for the Institute for many years. The consensus of the experts was that there would be work for a neutral water policy center dedicated to promoting research, analysis, collaboration and dialogue to build consensus for water stewardship solutions in Arizona and the West. Accordingly, the Kyl Center for Water Policy was launched. The experts also weighed in on priorities for the Kyl Center, the major consideration being matters on which the Center’s efforts could make a difference. Among the highest priorities identified was finding ways to promote progress in Arizona’s two general stream adjudications, which will determine the nature and relative priority of every claim of right to use water from its two largest ins-state river systems, the Gila River and the Little Colorado.