Ben Graff Seeks Creative Water Saving Strategies as a Member of the Central Arizona Water Conservation Board

With respect to all the vitally important issues being discussed this election cycle including reproductive freedom, guaranteed access to the ballot box, fully funding public schools, providing safe and green sustainable communities, and safeguarding civil rights for everyone, they may all pale in significance to confronting the water shortages and drought situation currently present (A Tier Two Shortage, or 21% reduction in Colorado River water for Arizona, was declared last month) in the Grand Canyon state.

Or put another way: If there is not enough water for the people or animals to drink, this state may become ill-suited for its current population to comfortably reside in.

That is why the race to fill the five open board seats in the Central Arizona Water Conservation District this election cycle is paramount.

Providing safe, drinkable water (40 percent of it from the currently shrinking Colorado River) to the residents of Maricopa, Pima, and Pinal Counties (where 80 percent of the state’s residents live,) it is important to have board members that are grounded in fact-based reality, will strive for common sense solutions to the water crisis, and work to bring everyone to the table to arrive at a consensus.

 

 

 

 

Four candidates: Alexandra Arboleda, Ylenia Aguliar, Benjamin Graff, and Jim Pederson.

Like Ms. Arboleda, Mr. Graff is running for reelection to the Board.

An attorney that specializes in land use and zoning, Mr. Graff has also served a term as a member of the Arizona Board of Regents.

According to him, as a member of the Conservation District Board, he helped to approve the Drought Contingency Plan, negotiated alongside his fellow Board members with California, Nevada, and the other Basin States to protect Arizona’s water supply, and successfully diversified CAWCD’s energy portfolio to include solar and other renewable energy sources following the closing of the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station.

Seeking reelection, he said that “what lies ahead for Arizona is nothing short of the greatest challenge we have faced to sustain the basic needs of our citizens (including children like his and the rest of Arizona parents) and we need Board members who can build upon what we have accomplished while embracing new and creative strategies.”

In this final segment of a three-part piece, Mr. Graff graciously took the time to respond to questions about his candidacy for the Central Arizona Water Conservation District Board.

1) Please tell the voters at least three reasons they should vote for you to serve on the Central Arizona Water Conservation District.

The first reason is experience. I am one of only two current members of the CAWCD Board running for reelection and I am seeking my second term to continue the essential work I have been a part of for the last six years. During my first term, I helped to negotiate and implement the Drought Contingency Plan (“DCP”). I also had the unique opportunity to work on diversifying our energy portfolio to include renewable energy resources, after the closure of the Navajo Generating Station. I never doubted Arizona’s Colorado River water supply was the most pressing challenge facing Arizona’s future and my experience on the Board has further cemented my dedication toward working with our tribal, municipal, industrial, and agricultural water users to identify and implement the solutions needed to secure and stabilize our water supply. I am a seasoned land use attorney, leading the land use/zoning law practice at Quarles & Brady, LLP in Phoenix, AZ, and every new development in Arizona has an impact on our water supply and strategy to ensure Arizona’s water future.

The second reason is that I am one of the few candidates who understand the drought condition for what it is. This is not a temporary drought condition, but rather an unfortunate new normal caused by climate change and aridification of the Rocky Mountain system and soil conditions. We need bold strategies for not only how to conserve water, but to also adapt to this changing environment. Any candidate running for this office who believes we only need temporary, short-term fixes until the drought resolves itself is not studying the data at hand. According to an Arizona State University tree ring study, the Southwest has not experienced a drought condition like this for over 1200 years.

The third reason is that during my first six-year term, I led by example in ensuring the Board focused on outreach to and education of the public and our customers on water issues. During my term, I co-chaired a task force focused on increasing the outreach to our customers and the accessibility to and involvement with the Board’s processes and public meetings. These new policies and practices have resulted in more efficient communication with the public and the ability of our customers (municipalities, tribes, industrial uses, agriculture) to have access to and influence the Board’s decision-making process.

2) Please advise what are at least three main issues in the Conservation District Race. Please explain.

1. Negotiations with California, Nevada, Mexico, & the Upper Basin States to Conserve Colorado River Water. The Board, in coordination with the Arizona Department of Water Resources (“ADWR”), is among the prominent voices protecting Arizona’s water and assuring that Arizona does not take a disproportionate cut to our water supply. In recent months, our Board authorized a compromise which was presented to the federal government along with our counterparts in Nevada, to cut approximately two million acre-feet from the system, to respond to the Reclamation Commissioner’s decree to cut 2-4 million acre-feet. California did not participate in this proposal. An enormous challenge will be for the Basin States, in coordination with the federal government, to propose a viable plan that achieves the 2-4 million acre-feet water reduction identified by the Reclamation Commissioner. Moving forward, the Board will continue to play a key role in bringing Nevada, California, Mexico, and all of the Basin States to the table to find effective means of water conservation to protect the Colorado River systems.

2. Striking the Balance Between Water Rate Setting and Use of Property Taxes. While CAP can build in the rising/changing costs to pump water through the CAP system into the water rates, there will be times, including the June 2022 rate-setting process approved by the Board, in which a combination of funding from property taxes and increased water rates is appropriate to offset water rates and address unpredictable increases. The challenge facing the Board is to find a means of addressing the inevitability of price increases for Colorado River Water, with the need for these increases to be predictable and absorbable by our customers. The Board understands our customers can accommodate moderate rate increases, as long as such increases are predictable and published in time for the Cities to include in their own rate-setting processes. However, if there is a major gap or unpredictable increase, then property taxes can be used to offset the gap and mitigate the unpredictable factors. However, as with all good policy discussions, the current and future Board members will not all agree on this approach, and finding a compromise and path forward may prove to be challenging.

3. Supporting New Water-Saving Technologies. The Board needs to continue to explore and support new innovations and pilot programs targeting water-saving technology. We must find ways to continue to support agriculture in Arizona while finding ways to reduce water use and provide incentives and funding for training and implementation of new technology.

3) Please describe your campaign strategy to reach voters including Independents and disaffected Republicans.

This position is and should remain as, a non-partisan elected office. Water has always been a policy issue that has bridged the gap between political parties and our campaigns should reflect the same. The struggle with this office is we typically deal with very low-budget campaigns, which at the same time need to reach all of Maricopa County. In fact, the projected win number for this race in 2022 is between 350,000 and 400,000 total votes. The key to a diversified campaign that can reach Independents, Democrats, and Republicans, with limited resources available, is through social media advertising, signage (although this is more of a name-recognition campaign without discussing the issues), and speaking at non-partisan public events throughout the county.

4) Is there anything not covered in the first three questions you would like the readers to know about your candidacies for the Central Arizona Water Conservation District? Please explain.

Arizona must be strong and present in all negotiations and project the argument that the original priority system is not compatible with the drastic steps needed to address the current water crisis. We need to move forward operating under the understanding the federal government has the authority to put aside the priority system and make significant cuts to the Colorado River water system unilaterally. With that in mind, the carrot for Arizona, California, Nevada, and even the Upper Basin States is that I am confident the states can still propose a joint and compromised plan that will be more equitable and beneficial to the individual states and Basin system than what the federal government will produce. That being said, if it becomes apparent the Basin States will not come to the table to strike a deal, Arizona needs to be willing to push the federal government to use its authority, rather than allow Lake Mead water levels to continue to drop toward Dead Pool.

Please click on the below social media site to find out more information on Ben Graff and his campaign to rejoin the Central Arizona Water Conservation Board.

www.ElectBenGraff.com