Water Conservation

black rainwater harvesting barrel with brown downspout (shutterstock:77270608 (C) Alison Hancock)

In Arizona, where natural precipitation is generally scarce, water has influenced the distribution, types, and population of plants, animals and humans. As growth has increased, Arizonans have drilled wells to access ground water, built dams and reservoirs to store water, reduce flood damage, and to produce energy, and constructed canals to move water to fields and cities. For at least the last 4,000 years, people living in what is now Arizona have been actively manipulating the quantity, quality, timing and location of water.