Tucson's Sustainability Ranking Slips Because of Water Supply, Use Issues

Tucson got a little less environmentally sustainable during the past two years compared with other major metro areas, a new national survey has concluded.
In part, that's because the national SustainLane rankings of the 50 largest cities added a new category this year — water supply — in which this and most other arid Southwestern cities ranked poorly.

The drop in the SustainLane rating of Tucson from 20 to 22 on the new survey wasn't a total knock at this city, however, since Tucson still ranks in the top half of the 50 cities in the survey. Tucson scored better than average in 10 of the 16 categories surveyed, including air quality, green building practices, environmental innovations and use of local food and agriculture. Portland, Ore., ranked first overall for sustainability among the 50 cities, according to the report. Phoenix ranked lower than Tucson overall at 32nd.

But on water, Tucson ranked 47th worst out of 50 cities. It ranked low for being too far from its principal long-term water source, for not being as aggressive as many other cities in its water-conservation policies and for its rapid growth in an arid environment.

"Your originating source of much of your water is the Colorado River . . . one of the farthest away of any of the cities ranked from their water supply," said James Elsen, SustainLane's CEO. "It's dependent on snowpack, which is declining. That puts you at great risk. You are like at the end of the pipe."

But two city of Tucson officials took issue with the survey's conclusions. The survey didn't account for Tucson's unique arid climate or the fact that much of Tucson's water conservation occurred voluntarily, the officials said.

"What does sustainability mean in an arid environment where you have all of these additional challenges?" asked Leslie Liberti, director of the city's office of conservation and sustainable development. "Forty-five percent of Tucson's residential and commercial water use goes to outdoor landscaping and that a lot of people want green in their yards, which needs irrigation."

The report said water is the most acute challenge Tucson faces for being a sustainable city. Sustainability means using practices that meet the needs of the present without compromising future generations' ability to meet their needs, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Tucson scored below average in per-person water use despite its national reputation as a pioneer in water conservation efforts, the report said. The survey said the city's total water use amounts to 169.7 gallons per person per day, 33rd among 50 cities.

Tucson Water said that figure is wrong — although SustainLane said it got the number directly from city officials — and the correct number is 163 gallons when reclaimed water sprayed on parks and golf courses is included and 150 if reclaimed isn't included. At the 163 figure, Tucson's rating improves to 28th. At 150 gallons, it would rank 25th of 50 cities.

While many Tucsonans have ripped out grass lawns over the years in favor of desert landscaping, Tucson's conservation policies aren't as aggressive as they could be, Eisen said.

"I live in California, and I got an automated call from the water authority last month, saying that I need to use 20 percent less water and if I don't, they have the right to cut me off," Elsen said. "Atlanta put into place a policy of cutting back water usage by 6 billion gallons a year, and has cut its use 10 to 25 percent annually over the last five years."

But Atlanta and California have no choice but to cut back because they're out of water or getting very close to it because of drought's effects on their surface supplies, said Tucson Water spokesman Mitch Basefsky.

By contrast, most of Tucson's water-conservation efforts have been voluntary, except for changes in its plumbing codes and xeriscaping requirements for new development approved back in the 1990s, Basefsky said.

"The question is whether those cities are doing it out of a sense of urgency or have they done it like Tucson over the last 30 years because we want to be more sustainable and live more in harmony with our desert surroundings," Basefsky said.

Basefsky does grant the surveyors one point: that Tucson is much more vulnerable to long-term drought in the Colorado River watershed than it's ever been. But that's because the city has chosen to make itself more dependent on the Colorado "to move to a supply that for now is renewable, preserving our groundwater supplies as a long-term resource for ourselves," he said.