Ducey's Water Council Represents Water Exploitation

Is the new Governor's Water Augmentation Council (GWAC)--which meets for the first time Friday, February 19--just a collection of Arizona water experts, or is it primarily a grouping of representatives for agribusiness, mining, and development?

A look at the chart below will reveal some interesting facts. For example, if you look at the list of members Ducey appointed to the council, you'll see one representative from the Salt River Project (SRP), and one representative (formerly the director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources) from Freeport McMoran, the controversial Phoenix-based mining company. However, although being a member of a board that also contains a representative of a corporation does not mean any strong relationship exists, it is important to note the extent to which these two entities have influence. After all, they are the primary private entities with interests in what happens to Arizona water.

Over a third of GWAC is involved with the Kyl Center for Water Policy. This is important for a few reasons. You may notice that the only person on the chart who is not part of GWAC is Richard Morrison, yet he is included because his role is important.

	Governor's Water Augmentation Council (GWAC)	Kyl Center for Water Policy	Water Resources Research Center (WRRC)	Executive Committee of Agriculture and Water Council	Water Resource Development Commission	Arizona-Mexico Commission	ADWR Strategic Vision	Other
SRP Representation		SRP		SRP	SRP	SRP	SRP
SRP Sponsorship						SRP
Mining Representation			Freeport McMoran	Freeport McMoran	Freeport McMoran	Freeport McMoran
Mining Sponsorship			Freeport McMoran			Freeport McMoran
Bas Aja	member							AZ Cattlemen's Assoc
Cheryl Lombard	member				alternate			Valley Partnership
Chris Camacho	member							GPEC
Chris Udall	member		board	Executive Director	Advisor
Craig Sullivan	member				Advisor			County Boards of Supervisors
Dave Roberts	member		board	member	alternate	Water Committee	"Significant Contributions"	SRP
David Brown	member	board			member
Glenn Hamer	member							AZ Chamber of Commerce
Grady Gammage Jr.	member	board						Attorney
Hunter Moore	member							Office of Gov Doug Ducey
Kathleen Ferris	member	board	board		member
Lisa Atkins	member	board						Land Dept.
Mark Smith	member
Maureen George	member				member
Misael Cabrera	member					Water Committee		ADEQ, WIFA
Pat Graham	member	board	board		member			Nature Consverancy
Phil Townsend	member							Sunlund Chemicals Co
Richard Morrison	-	funder	external advisory board	member				Salmon, Lewis, and Weldon- water law
Rick Lavis	member	board					author	AZ Cotton Growers Assoc
Robert Lotts	member		board					APS
Rod Keeling	member							Arizona Wine Growers Association
Ron Doba	member				member
Sandy Fabritz-Whitney	member	board			ex-officio		author	Freeport McMoran
Sarah Porter	member	director	board
Spencer Kamps	member				Advisor			Home Builders Association of Central Arizona
Ted Cooke	member		board
Thomas Buschatzke	member	board	board			Water Committee	author
Virginia O’Connell	member
Wade Noble	member	board		member	member			Attorney
Warren Tenney	member				member		author

A $1 million seed endowment from the Morrison family launched the Kyl Center for Water Policy, part of the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at ASU in November 2014. Richard Morrison, a co-founder and the Chairman of the Morrison Institute Advisory Board, and a cattle-rancher who grew up on a cotton farm (see the impact of cotton on AZ water), is also credited with "[negotiating] settlement of four central Arizona Indian water rights settlements representing local irrigation districts."