In the semi-arid American Southwest, water transfers and supply “augmentation” (bringing new, untapped sources of water) have been a traditional response to water scarcity as evidenced by hundreds of large canals and pipelines that crisscross the landscape. However, since 1980 and the enactment of the Groundwater Management Act (GMA), Arizona water stakeholders (government officials, mayors, city managers, and bureaucrats) have been forced to implement water conservation strategies to plan for a future with less water. Many scholars have described the GMA as a major policy innovation and Arizona cities’ policy documents and newspapers valorize these actions as being the avant garde of water conservation to sustain urban attractiveness. The research presented here aims to question the implementation of water conservation policies in Arizona’s desert metropoles. What socio-political context allowed for the development of a law such as the GMA and the implementation of public water conservation policies? Beyond stating success and policy satisfaction, what are the stakes and limits of water conservation measures as implemented since the 1980s?

2022    Boyer, Anne-Lise and Brian F. O’Neill. “Water Conservation in Arizona Desert Cities: A Socioecological Fix to the Oasis Lifestyle?” In Chloé Nicolas-Artero, Sébastien Velut, Graciela Schneier-Madanes, Franck Poupeau, and Carine Chavarochette (ed.): Luttes pour l’Eau dans les Amériques. Mésusages, Arrangements et Changements Sociaux. Chapter 11, pg. 254-274. April 2022. Éditions de l’HEAL Collection n°2. Aubervilliers, France. ISBN 978-2-37154-145-0