My message to Arizonans is this.
We are not out of water and we l
not be running out of water bec,
as we have done so many times before,
we will tackle the water challenges that
we face with integrity and transparency.
We will not be running out of w.
That was Governor Katie Hobbs pledged
Arizonans 2 weeks ago as she announced
how the state would deal with te
projected longterm groundwater shortage
on the fringes of the Phoenix a.
But the national media focused
on a different side of the stor.
This New York Times headline is one example.
Arizona limits construction arod
Phoenix as water supply dwindle.
That take caused some heartburn
for the people who woo businesss
to fast growing Arizona.
One of them is Danny Seiden,
chief executive officer of the Arizona
Chamber of Commerce and Industr.
The state's leading business trade group,
Welcome to Square Off.
Thank
you so much for having me this
morning. Brand to talk about
this important subject. It's
very important. I mean,
I wanted to get your perspective on this.
Your colleague at the Greater Phoenix
Economic Council, Chris Camacho,
said he spoke with 200 investor,
developers, business people in e
wake of the governor's announce,
trying to clean up, you know,
clean up on Aisle 6 after that,
in part because of headlines like the
ones I just posted from the Tims
well as the Washington Post and.
And CNN online,
what kind of questions have you
been getting from these folks?
Well, you know, first two things the I
thought the governor's press conference
which you played a clip of to st
is is very telling because whate
governor said that press conference is
existing construction not impac,
commercial development not impa,
but somehow from that the national media
got that Arizona is running out of water.
So unfortunately, Bram,
the national media's headlines aren't
always as accurate as yours are here,
here, locally.
So we're we are dealing with that challenge,
the misperception that's been
created that we're having a big
water shortage that we're out o,
you know, out of water.
And so the kind of questions
that we've gotten are, you know,
what's the deal with this,
what's happening with the water in Arizona.
And we're able to say,
let me tell you what the real headline is.
Arizona is the only state in the
country that can tell you that
you'll have water for 100 years.
No other state does that.
No other state does 100 year
assurance requirement.
So you come here, your investments protected.
We have enough water to build houses for
pretty much the next 96 years safely.
And you know something, We'll solve that 4%.
It's just a 4% shortage.
We use less water now than we did in 1957.
To assume that we won't be able
to meet that demand is crazy and
most people know that.
Sandra Watson at the Commerce Authority,
the governor's office,
they've been doing a very good
job reaching out in advance.
To that water report coming out,
mitigating any questions and ths
made our job easier as we feel questions
from perspective economic development.
Now a lot of viewers may say hag
on a SEC, I see the local headls
and local reporting on this.
The Colorado River water supplys
under serious threat right now. Correct
it, you know.
The, the way the Colorado River allotment
works is a little bit complicat.
There's multiple states involved and you
know Arizona does get a share of that
and we have seen reductions to .
But we also just saw our wettest year
on record and Arizona has had to make
plans to augment their dam capacity. So
it's one year out of what's been a 20
year mega drought. It it has, bt
does help keep things in perspective.
That's how fast things change.
One year we're hearing you know,
historic lows, the next year
we're having to build more space
in our dams for the retention.
So our businesses buying what ye
selling when you tell them about
water because they're putting a
lot of money down in this state
and they want straight talk.
They are. And here's,
here's why again,
we're talking about businesses.
Industrial use makes up less
than 7% of our total water.
Here in Maricopa County.
We use 95% of all the waste
water that is recaptured.
So we have a great relationshiph
the state and with the community
when it comes to water use in
the commercial side of things.
But we also need houses.
So it's important to
continue that construction.
And there is thousands of homes
that have yet to be built.
They've already been issued thee
water certificates and I believe
this 4% is extremely solvable, .
I mean going back to your headline point,
how often has the national medi.
Gotten this wrong, I could,
we could do a whole segment of
laughing about old headlines.
That one you pointed out at
the beginning of the show.
I look forward to,
you know,
reminding the New York Times
of that 10 years from now.
Just like the Smithsonian,
who 10 years ago predicted
we would be out of water,
Phoenix would be out of water right now.
And yet there are some real
consequences about what the
governor announced 2 weeks ago.
Places like Buckeye,
which has plans for hundreds of thousands
of homes and doesn't have the w.
That will have an impact on the
area of the if this area can't
sprawl the way it has in the pa,
cheap land, cheaper houses,
it seems like those days are ov.
Again, I think what the governor
announced and how reports being
interpreted are two different things.
Existing construction plans not impacted.
We're talking about if
you look at the report,
some unincorporated areas in Maricopa County.
Are not going to have new certificates issued
until they can prove up that 100 years,
which is something that
will be able to be done.
So I don't think this is a slow.
I don't think this is the end of an error.
I think again this is an issue f
the national media reading our
obituary in 10 years from now.
I look forward to reading those back to them.
All right. And I do want to point out,
you know the water story well,
you worked for Intel chip
maker uses a lot of water,
so you needed to understand where the
water is coming from, 100%. Ints
a great example too.
Bram, I I just love to point this out.
Do you know the Intel's water positive?
They put more water back into
the system than they take out.
They do that through a wastewatr
treatment facility that they
gave to the City of Chandler.
They are excellent community partners.
They are excellent on this topi.
And you mentioned, I work for I,
but I also worked for a governon
the past and that governor inved
a billion dollars into the a new
agency that is invested in makig
sure that we have augmentation,
innovation and conservation
of our water going forward.
So a billion dollars for that.
Governor Hobbs has continued that commitment.
She even created a new water poy
council that already committed
$40 million to augmentation.
So I think with the leadership m
Governor Hobbs and the leadershp
from the business community,
this is beyond solvable.
So we won't be talking about
this in two years Be unsolvable.
We'll have the video in two yeas
to to check back. Let's move to another
story that's top of mind for ci,
businesses and economic develop.
The governor and legislature hae
failed to agree on a plan to exd
the Maricopa County sales tax tt
helps pay for transit projects.
Highways, roads,
light rail tax was approved the years ago,
and the county okayed Prop 400 voters did.
But they need to renew the tax and they
have to tell folks for arcane reasons,
the state legislature must permt
the county to hold the vote.
Won't get into the wise of that.
Just big picture,
why should the average resident
care about Prop 400 and whether
or not this tax gets extended?
Well,
first of all, I don't know if you you
know this, but we're seeing in e
fastest growing county in the country.
So when you're driving around,
you're stuck in traffic.
Why the average resident shoulde
is this is how we fund our grow,
This is how we fund our roads,
This is how we fund a plan to me
the transportation needs for this county
that is growing at such a fast .
So it is extremely important to everyone,
not just the business community
who needs it to,
to help build out the infrastructure.
A lot of times people forget Br,
we're the youngest state in the.
You know every as we grow we have to build,
we don't have existing infrastructure.
So thinking ahead and planning
ahead to the future and being
forward thinking is very import.
Important to all of us.
So right now it appears the governor last
week was talking about going to the ballot,
going to a statewide ballot to t
Maricopa County vote on something that
affects only Maricopa County or getting
something done at the legislature because
they're not done yet for some reason.
So what's the best option? Righ,
You know, the best option.
And I'm going to be uncharacteristically
optimistic about the legislatur.
I think the plan that they put
forward that went to the governs
office where she said she would veto.
Is a good sign and it shows that they
can get the majority of their members on
board with a plan at all around Prop 400.
I think there's one of the veryd
reasons that you just pointed out that
they have not adjourned signing.
They're in session until at least August 1st.
That's a lot of time to come back to the
table and negotiate out a plan because
the best plan is that the legislature
refer this because if it goes to the ballot,
it becomes very complicated.
There's questions about whetherr
not you need to do 2 initiative.
To go statewide to give Maricopa
that authority and then one fore
plan inside Maricopa County, so.
Obviously the best plan would be come
back to the table, negotiated a deal.
Both sides have a little bit
more they can give, I'm sure,
and let's get something done.
I can tell you though,
if this does end up on the ball,
it is of such great importance t
my membership would back a governor's
plan to to fund it that way.
But hopefully it doesn't come to that.
Hopefully we can resolve this
at the legislature.
Governor Hobbs has repeatedly sd
she thinks she can get everyone
back to the table and so show se
leadership I think would be gre.
If it gets on the ballot, thoug,
you could have a scenario wheres
every county in the state against Maricopa
County and it's not a sure thing, is it?
No, absolutely not.
That's why, you know, it's complicated.
If if you just did the straight plan,
right, why would people in Pima County say,
I want to fund the the Kingdom of Maricopa,
as they call it sometimes, you ,
and we're a statewide chamber,
We love all of our counties.
But the truth is Maricopa probably should
have this in terms of good government.
They should have the authority
to do this themselves.
So maybe it's time to look at that as
well on top of getting Prop 400 passed.
Gotta end it there. Danny Seide,
thank you so much for joining. k
you so much for having me,
Bram. Great to be on.