Water and urban development challenges in the Tucson metropolitan area: An interdisciplinary perspective

In today’s urbanized world, there is a very significant relationship between growth and water/wastewater infrastructure, particularly in the rapidly growing but water scarce regions where the need to implement water uses/policies that are sustainable over the longer term is strong. In this chapter, we propose a new approach to analyzing the challenge of sustainable urban growth and water/wastewater development in the arid southwestern United States,1 and especially in the Colorado Basin (Figure 1). In support of this, we assess the hydrological, historical and socio-economic interactions that have developed in this region, so as to explain today’s problems while contributing to a comprehensive policy review.