Tucson planned ahead for water. Will we do the same for climate?

For decades, Tucson treated underground water storage as an insurance policy. That policy is now being cashed.

Across the Southwest, human-caused climate change — primarily driven by carbon pollution and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels — is accelerating long-term aridification. Hotter air acts like an atmospheric sponge across the upper Colorado River basin, evaporating snowpack and drying out soils before runoff ever reaches Lake Mead.

That deficit has real consequences. Following mandatory Colorado River reductions, Tucson Water plans to order only about 71,000 acre-feet of Central Arizona Project (CAP) water for 2027 — roughly half its normal 144,000 acre-foot allocation. Part of that reduction is voluntary: Tucson is leaving 50,000 acre-feet in Lake Mead under a federal conservation program. To bridge the gap, the utility will draw on its underground "savings account" for the first time, recovering Colorado River water intentionally banked in the Avra Valley aquifer over the past two decades.

That withdrawal is not an emergency scramble. It is the reward of deliberate foresight. Beginning in the late 1990s, Tucson chose to store surplus CAP water in local aquifers rather than rely solely on vulnerable surface deliveries. In 2008, Tucson became the first city in the nation to require commercial developments to supply at least 50% of their landscape water with harvested rainwater.

That history illustrates an essential truth: communities protect their future when they invest before a crisis arrives. Today, Arizona faces an equally demanding test from compounding extreme heat and rising energy demands.

Rising temperatures drive both shrinking reservoirs and local heat emergencies. Climate Central analyses show Tucson's average annual temperature has warmed approximately 4.5°F since 1970. Summer nights across the Southwest have warmed by an average of 4.5°F, depriving human bodies of the relief needed to recover from triple-digit days. These extremes also land squarely on household budgets as air conditioners run continuously, straining family finances and driving peak electricity demand.

Fortunately, Arizona possesses an extraordinary natural advantage to confront both sides of the climate challenge: cutting emissions while fortifying the power grid.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Arizona already operates over 9,000 megawatts of utility-scale solar capacity and more than 2,000 megawatts of battery storage. Expanding solar provides abundant zero-carbon electricity to meet crushing daytime air conditioning loads. Meanwhile, rapidly growing battery storage captures that clean energy and shifts it into the critical late-afternoon and evening hours when the sun sets and electric demand peaks. Paired with home-efficiency retrofits, these clean resources lower household bills, buffer grid reliability, and cut the fossil fuel emissions that drive further warming.

Tucson’s water history proves the value of long-term planning. Similar leadership is needed for enduring climate and energy solutions. This is where voters have the power to make a difference in the midterm elections. When considering candidates for congressional, state and local office, voters should ask:

– For federal and state legislative candidates: How will you address the root causes of regional warming while securing our water future — supporting policies and funding that expand solar, battery storage and transmission alongside groundwater recharge and irrigation upgrades?

– For Arizona Corporation Commission candidates: How will your ratemaking and resource-planning decisions encourage regulated utilities to scale up cost-effective battery storage and energy efficiency without shifting unfair rate burdens onto household electric bills?

– For county and local candidates: What specific investments will you champion to protect neighborhoods from extreme heat — from expanding urban shade canopies and stormwater greening to supporting home cooling and weatherization assistance?

Tucson has thrived in the Sonoran Desert because earlier generations recognized environmental limits and prepared decades in advance. Arizona must bring that same clear-eyed discipline to our climate and energy future at the ballot box this fall.