Water management options for the upper San Pedro basin: Assessing the social and institutional landscape

The San Pedro River flows northward 300 km from its source in northern Mexico into southeastern Arizona. The upper basin, predominantly rural until recently, now is experiencing rapid residential growth. The resulting rise in urban population is raising demand for water from the area's only source:groundwater from the basin. The San Pedro, whose riparian area is nationally protected in the United States, is one of the arid Southwest's last remaining streams to flow virtually year-round. Accordingly, issues surrounding the river's use and protection have drawn considerable attention and controversy.This paper examines water-management options for the basin and emphasizes the groundwater versus surface water nature of the resource and the social and institutional elements of the controversy.