ABSTRACT
The key to water resource development in Arizona has been the construction of an extensive and increasingly complex set of physical and legal infrastructure that would allow for the production and delivery of water from natural sources to the people and places that needed it. This has been the one constant across a span of time that reaches back into the prehistoric era and continues forward until the present. The history of water in Arizona is the story of getting water to where it is needed for domestic use, for agriculture, and for industry. Today, Arizonans are becoming increasingly concerned with leaving some of that water where it is to benefit the environment and to achieve a sustainable balance between consumptive use and natural recharge. This paper examines the history of Arizona’s water infrastructure.
