The Uncharted Backwaters of the Unfashionable

Water records need to be public, too

Phoenix is the capital city of Arizona. It’s also in the middle of a desert. Yet somehow the state has evolved some wack records laws that don’t seem to accept this as a truth.

Most people I talked to are shocked to learn that records of water usage are entirely blocked from public access. It makes sense. Water is our number one resource here; we’re barraged with ways to conserve water and take a of what natural moisture there is.

Yet we also have the most acres of golf courses in the nation. We have green lawns down every block. And every other house has a pool. While there are laws that govern the way water is generally used, especially by large consumers, there is no way for a regular Joey Citizen to see for himself if those laws are being followed. The records are entirely hidden away. It’s illegal for a water district to give them out. It’s a crime for a citizen to have them.

Sometimes it’s hard to explain why not having access to information is bad. Other times, the argument is made for you, and all you have to do is point to it. Enter the Panama City Press Herald, and a phenomenal piece by Matt Dixon.

Here’s the kicker:

Over the past five years, 2.4 billion gallons of water — 23 percent of all water purchased by Panama City — has gone unaccounted for, according to an analysis of utility records obtained in a public records request. In 2006 alone, the city lost 631 million gallons, the largest single-year amount since at least 1996, according to utility records.

Arizona, we deserve to see how we stack up.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 at 5:48 pm and is filed under News, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.