Yet Tucson water exceeds the requirements of federal government standards and it always has. But now we are blocked from the use of Colorado River water by this law. Even purified Colorado River Water cannot be used for drinking but must be used for irrigation or industrial purposes, or be recharged. As for irrigation, we are selling Colorado River water directly out of the canal to some farmers in Marana. But farmers who must pay for the necessary infrastructure to receive the water refuse to buy it because it is cheaper to simply pump the water out of their own well rather than to purchase it from the city.
Industrial usage has the same obstacles as agricultural use.
Again, it is cheaper to utilize their private wells. The Asarco mines present the city with another problem. They are willing to buy our Colorado River water to replace their well water if we can guarantee delivery 365 days a year. This is something we cannot do unless we have a terminal storage site filled with Colorado River water. In other words, a lake or reservoir.