Arizona Governor’s Water Augmentation Council Lacks Focus on Conservation Strategies

Steve Kozachik, Tucson City Council Member for Ward 6

This episode focuses on the lack of environmental and conservation-minded voices on the Arizona Governor’s Water Augmentation Council (GWAC). We talk with Tucson City Council Member Steve Kozachik, Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter Executive Director Sandy Bahr, and former President of the Huachuca Audubon Society Tricia Gerrodette.  Our interviewees discuss how the Arizona Governor, Doug Ducey, has stacked GWAC with partisan business and municipal interests, and has directed the Council to focus on augmentation methods such as desalination. The environmental and conservation community see this as a step backwards for Arizona water policy, and are concerned the actions of GWAC have the potential to weaken Arizona’s future water security by not first focusing on conservation methods.

Steve Kozachik was interviewed at his office in Tucson’s Ward 6 on October 21, 2016. Sandy Bahr was interviewed at her office in Phoenix on October 24, 2016, and Tricia Gerrodette was interviewed at the Sierra Vista Public Library on October 26, 2016.

Sandy Bahr, Executive Director for the Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter Tricia Gerrodette, Former President of the Huachuca Audubon Society