This Summer, Tucson Decides the Future of its Water

7 min readMar 22, 2021

On June 22nd, Tucson has the chance to take power back from rich real estate developers and protect our neighbors, our future, and our most basic resource. Very few people here know about this issue because powerful developers want to make the decision in secret without your input. We want to shine a light on why this choice is so important.

UPDATE APRIL 7, 2021: In a stunning outcome, Mayor Romero and the Tucson City Council voted unanimously to move forward into the public comment period for differential rates. After public hearings, they will make the final vote on June 22nd. In the days leading up to yesterday’s vote, the Mayor and Council’s inboxes were flooded with emails in support of Our Water Tucson’s platform. We believe this was a key reason for the shocking unanimous vote — keep up the pressure, Tucson! Let’s make sure we win in June! [This post has been updated to to reflect the new timeframe.]
UPDATE JUNE 23, 2021: Success!! Last night, Mayor Romero and the Tucson City Council made the historic decision to implement differential water rates and use the revenue to cancel water bill debt, expand the Low Income Assistance Program, and invest in climate resiliency — the three main tenets of the Our Water Tucson platform. Our supporters packed the public hearings and flooded their inboxes with emails, and to our surprise and delight they voted unanimously once again. It is clear that the public pressure from you all was a huge success, particularly in regards to canceling the debt. Please see our new post where we explain exactly what was passed and thank all of the wonderful people who helped make this possible!

Our Challenge

Tucson gets most of our water from the Colorado River, hundreds of miles away. The Colorado River supply is decreasing due to climate change, so water is becoming scarce. Tucson will have a bleak future if we don’t protect and conserve our water.

Right now, however, Tucson Water charges no more for water that flows to property outside city limits than for water used in Tucson itself — even though these faraway properties don’t contribute to city tax revenue. Tucson Water often has to build and maintain new pipelines and pump water uphill to reach these developments. Tucson is the only city in Arizona that doesn’t charge outside property a higher price for the water we provide. City Hall calls this issue “differential rates.” Real estate developers like things just the way they are in Tucson — zero differential rates — because it means Tucson taxpayers subsidize their massive profits. It is our view that it is past time for that era to come to an end.

Our Answer

We cannot afford to continue giving away our most precious resource for so little. This encourages unchecked sprawl, and developers and the rich snowbirds who buy their mansions and golf courses are not shy about taking advantage. They are fighting hard to maintain the status quo. Now is the time to fight back, because on Tuesday June 22nd the Tucson Mayor and City Council will vote on whether to implement differential rates and how to use the revenue. Here’s our proposal to protect our water and make a fairer future for Tucson:

Create a 40% differential rate and use the revenue (projected to be $27 million) to accomplish the following 3 goals:

Cancel Pandemic Water Debt. Cancel all existing water delinquency debt for the more than 10,000 families who have been unable to pay their bills during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their debt has ballooned to over $3 million, and the revenue from differential rates could easily remove that burden. No one should lose water service or go into debt because they faced financial problems during a global pandemic and recession.
Lower Water Bills for Low-Income Families Throughout the Service Area. Low-income families within city limits must see a decrease in their water bills, and those outside of city limits must have the new differential rates offset. The city already has a low-income assistance program but the budget is just $1.5 million and enrollment is restricted and difficult. We need to drastically increase subsidies and expand eligibility to include renters, not just property owners. We can make enrollment easier by allowing self-declaration of income via mail/phone/internet and removing the requirements to do an interview and provide Social Security cards for every household member — such barriers are unnecessarily abrasive and not used by other local utilities such as Southwest Gas. Tucson Water should actively seek out families who have had recent delinquencies or late payments in any city utility to help them enroll, as well as tracking and monitoring this program to ensure that low-income families in longstanding rural communities are not being harmed.
Invest in Climate Resiliency. Invest in climate resiliency programs across the city to support green infrastructure, rainwater harvesting, and tree planting. Tucson has initiated several programs like this already (like this and this and this), but to be truly effective in mitigating climate change, they need a drastic increase in funding.

This is a great opportunity to allocate our most precious resource according to need rather than profit. Developers and technocrats focus on whether different rates incentivize annexation into the city, but this is beside the point: we want the developers to pay their fair share to protect Tucson working families. They frame the issue around annexation to distract from the fact that the main consequences of their position are unpopular — helping developers make money by escalating urban sprawl, and allowing the rich who don’t pay city taxes to continue getting city water for unfairly low prices.

Our Fight

This issue is up to the city, but power concedes nothing without a demand. If we want to cancel the water debt, lower prices for those in need, and plan for our future, we need to make our voices heard in the lead-up to the vote:

Register to speak at the virtual public hearing on June 8th by emailing cityclerk@tucsonaz.gov with this message: “I would like to speak at the June 8th public hearing on differential water rates. My name is ___ and I will be calling in from [phone number].” (The city council will be on a live video broadcast but speakers at the public hearing have to call in from a phone.)
Contact Mayor Romero and members of the City Council (see contact info below). Click HERE to email all of them simultaneously (please include your address or city ward so they know you’re from the Tucson area, and feel free to add your own personal reasons for supporting the cause so they don’t always get the exact same letter).
Ask this year’s City Council candidates and community organizations to endorse Our Water Tucson.
Write a letter to the editor of our local newspaper saying we support differential rates.
Spread the word on your social media (feel free to use #OurWaterTucson!).
Sign our petition!

Our Water Tucson has endorsements from numerous local organizations including the Tucson chapters of the DSA and the Sunrise Movement, as well as four City Council candidates (see below for the full endorsement list). More endorsements and events are on the way, so please follow us here and on Twitter and Facebook to hear the latest. The developers are well organized, so we need all the help we can get from regular Tucsonans. Let’s protect our water, Tucson!

The Our Water Tucson coalition is growing every day! If you or your organization would like to join our movement, please reach out at ourwatertucson@gmail.com. So far our coalition includes:

Local Organizations and Small Businesses

Tucson City Council Candidates

Miranda Schubert, Ward 6 Candidate
Andres Portela, Ward 6 Candidate
Lucy LiBosha, Ward 3 Candidate
Lucas Rodriguez, Ward 5 Candidate

Mayor and City Council Contact Info

If you can, please send emails to both the council member’s personal address and the general ward address, which goes to their staff. Reaching both will virtually guarantee your voice is heard. For convenience, you can click HERE to send an email to all of the addresses below simultaneously (please include your address or city ward so they know you’re from the Tucson area, and feel free to add your own personal reasons for supporting the cause so they don’t always get the exact same letter).

Mayor Romero: Mayor.Romero@tucsonaz.gov; (520) 791–4201
Vice Mayor Lee: Nikki.Lee@tucsonaz.gov, ward4@tucsonaz.gov; (520) 791–3199
Councilwoman Santa Cruz: Lane.Santa.Cruz@tucsonaz.gov, ward1@tucsonaz.gov; (520) 791–4040
Councilman Cunningham: Paul.Cunningham@tucsonaz.gov, ward2@tucsonaz.gov; (520) 791–4687
Councilwoman Uhlich: Karin.Uhlich@tucsonaz.gov, ward3@tucsonaz.gov; (520) 791–4711
Councilman Fimbres: Richard.Fimbres@tucsonaz.gov, ward5@tucsonaz.gov; (520) 791–4231
Councilman Kozachik: Steve.Kozachik@tucsonaz.gov, ward6@tucsonaz.gov; (520) 791–4601
City Clerk: cityclerk@tucsonaz.gov