WaterNews: October 27, 2022

A surge of groundwater pumping by thirsty livestock, pecan, and pistachio farms has caused irrigation and homeowner wells to go dry in Cochise County, in southeast Arizona. Photo © Keith Schneider / Circle of Blue

2022 Election: Water Regulation and Spending Punctuate State and Local Ballots

Groundwater regulation, legal rights to clean water, and spending measures highlight this election cycle.

Weeks before the November 8 election, national political debate centers on control of Congress.

In rural southeastern Arizona, however, the kitchen table issue strikes closer to home. Voters in parts of Cochise and Graham counties will decide whether to join the state’s more populated districts and regulate groundwater extraction. Orchards, vineyards, and dairy farms have moved into this dusty corner of Arizona where large-scale irrigation has caused drinking water wells to go dry and the land to subside, damaging highways.

“It’s pretty intense right now,” Rebekah Wilce told Circle of Blue about the campaign. Wilce is the treasurer of Arizona Water Defenders, the political action committee that brought the question to the ballot.

For Wilce and other campaigners across the country, these are the final, furious days in an effort to sway voters and influence the course of public policy.

Election season always features environmental ballot initiatives and referendums. This year is no different.

In California and New York, voters will be asked to approve multibillion-dollar bond and taxing measures to benefit air, land, and water. Such measures generally attract broad public support. Time and again, voters in states nationwide have been willing to borrow money and tax themselves to pay for clean, reliable water.

While state-level decisions this year are about money, local initiatives focus on law and policy. Besides the Arizona counties considering groundwater regulation, a Florida town and five Wisconsin counties will be voting on whether people should have a legal right to clean water. Those votes reflect a burgeoning movement in the country to secure environmental protection through changes in foundational legal documents.

Photo © J. Carl Ganter / Circle of Blue

What’s Up With Water – October 25, 2022
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The New York City skyline and the Hudson River. Photo © J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue
2021 Election Recap: New York Voters Approve Clean Water Constitutional Amendment
High-profile water-related issues were also on the ballot in Maine, Boise, and Virginia Beach.

By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue – November 3, 2021

A movement to enshrine individual rights to clean air and water in state constitutions received a boost yesterday.

By a large majority, New York voters approved the addition of an environmental rights amendment to their state constitution.

Nearly 61 percent of voters endorsed the inclusion of new language in the state Bill of Rights. That foundational document will now protect the right to “clean air and water, and a healthful environment.”

The clear majority — ‘yes’ votes exceeded ‘no’ votes in 51 of New York’s 62 counties — “speaks to the fact that in deeply polarized times, the value of a healthful environment can bring people together,” Peter Iwanowicz told Circle of Blue. Iwanowicz is the executive director of Environmental Advocates NY, the organization that spearheaded the campaign for the amendment.

The change could have consequences. In states like Pennsylvania that have similar constitutional language, courts have pointed to the amendments as justification for striking down state laws that put a healthy environment at risk. Iwanowicz said that it could force municipalities to do more planning on the front-end to ensure that they are not sued.