Negotiations over the future of the Colorado River hinge on a bold new idea: Floating Pools — reserved water storage designed to reduce conflict and avoid litigation between Upper and Lower Basin states. This report explores how this innovative concept could lay the foundation for a durable, post-2026 management framework for the river.

The Kyl Center for Water Policy at Morrison Institute regularly publishes research to inform water policy planning and decision-making

Grant Heminger is a Research and Policy Analyst at the Kyl Center for Water Policy, specializing in water affordability and demand projection with a focus on tribal water systems. He graduated summa cum laude from Arizona State University's Barrett, The Honors College, where he studied under esteemed professors of practice with decades of experience in water resource management.

Kathleen Ferris has been involved in Arizona water issues for nearly 40 years. In 1977, she was appointed executive director of the Arizona Groundwater Management Study Commission, leading to the passage of the 1980 Arizona Groundwater Management Act, one of the nation’s most visionary groundwater laws.

Arizona Colorado River Updates 

News: Divorce Might Be on the Horizon

A project to move water, change its use, alter its quality or store it is likely to be expensive.

augment (verb): to make greater, more numerous, larger or more intense
augmentation (noun): the act or process of augmenting something

Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2022.

Since the 1980s, Arizona Tribes have leased water for off-reservation use by cities and industries. A Tribal water lease is an agreement through which a Tribe allows an entity to temporarily use part of the Tribe’s water allocation in exchange for payment.

When it comes to conceptualizing new water supplies for Arizona, there’s no lack of imagination -- and seemingly no lack of ingenuity: Engineers and futurists have proffered everything from ocean desalination to hauling icebergs to