UA idea: Tucsonans save water; funds go to restore our rivers

By Tony Davis
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.16.2008

Why conserve water when what's saved goes to serve more growth?
That question has hung over the city's water-conservation debate for years.
Even though statistics show that many Tucson-area residents have indeed cut back from their use a decade ago, people continue to write letters and speak out at meetings that they see little point in conserving if newcomers keep moving in and slurping up the savings.
Now, a University of Arizona water-research center wants to offer an alternative to ensure that saving water is helping the region's long-dry rivers and streams.
"Conserve to Enhance" is a proposed program in which people who save water could set aside the money they saved by using less water to restore long-barren rivers or streams. It's been under study for some time by the UA's Water Resources Research Center.

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