Arizona’s finite, limited supply of water is being stretched between new and fast-accumulating demands. Fortunately, the path toward crisis is not inevitable. This legislative session, Arizona PIRG is supporting efforts to conserve our water resources, use our water more efficiently and ultimately ensure all Arizonans have at least a 100-year, local, clean water supply.

Arizona PIRG supports measures to: require counties and communities outside of Active Management Areas to deny or give only conditional approval to new subdivisions if the water supply is found to be inadequate; reduce water costs in new schools through implementing performance standards and adopting a savings accounting mechanism; and develop a revolving loan fund for water-saving projects in existing state facilities and schools to provide a mechanism for achieving water-saving goals and standards.

	ADDRESSING EDUCATION ISSUES—(left to right) Alexandra Gloriosois, Students for Arizona PIRG Higher Education Project Coordinator, speaks with Erin Eccleston, lead organizer for Arizona PIRG and Speaker Pelosi about college affordability.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Visits ASU
In February, Arizona PIRG, the Arizona Students Association, and the Associated Students of Arizona State University held a higher education event featuring U.S. House Speaker Pelosi and Arizona Reps. Grijalva, Mitchell and Pastor.

The event, attended by over 1,000 students and concerned Arizonans, highlighted recent congressional action to lower interest rates on student loans by cutting subsidies to private banks and increase funding for need-based student aid. The elected officials listed above and Arizona Rep. Renzi should be applauded for their support of this issue.

“Paying for college is a crucial issue for millions of families in Arizona and across the country,” said Luke Swarthout, Arizona PIRG’s Higher Education Advocate. “By making college affordability a top priority in the 110th Congress, it shows U.S. representatives are listening to the concerns of students and their families.”

Among other measures, Arizona PIRG is supporting efforts led by the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP) to reduce state utility costs by increasing the energy savings goals for state facilities, increasing energy efficiency and reducing utility costs in new schools, increasing the energy-saving goals for state buildings and universities to 30 percent by 2020 and requiring that all new or leased state buildings conform to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, in a manner prescribed by the Arizona Department of Commerce Energy Office.