Gov. Katie Hobbs defends Arizona "toilet to tap" efforts

For Tucson residents, the debate over turning treated wastewater into drinking water is no longer a distant policy discussion. The city is planning to build the region’s first advanced water purification plant, with operations expected to begin in the early 2030s. The facility would provide only about 3% of Tucson’s municipal water, but it is intended to help address two urgent problems: declining Colorado River supplies and the shutdown of northwest Tucson wells contaminated with PFAS, often called “forever chemicals.”

Gov. Katie Hobbs defended that approach Wednesday in Scottsdale, criticizing what she described as misinformation about advanced water purification. The technology has become a political flashpoint in Scottsdale, where city council candidate Michelle Ugenti-Rita, a former Republican state lawmaker, has campaigned against expanding the city’s program. In a video featuring comedian and Scottsdale resident Rob Schneider, the two held up a glass of brown liquid and suggested that residents would be forced to drink something resembling it.

Hobbs said such messaging is irresponsible and argued that Arizona needs to become more comfortable with water treatment technologies that can expand its supplies. She compared advanced purification with the treatment already used for water drawn from the Colorado River, which supplies much of the water delivered to Phoenix. River water is not consumed directly from the source, she noted, but is processed before reaching household taps. Advanced water purification, she said, follows the same general principle but uses a more extensive treatment system with additional filtering and safeguards.

The terminology itself has been part of the effort to make the process understandable and acceptable to the public. The concept was initially described as direct potable reuse, while critics and political opponents popularized the phrase “toilet to tap.” The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality ultimately settled on “advanced water purification.” Randall Matas, director of the department’s water quality division, said the name was chosen partly after considering what language consumers would accept, but primarily because it more accurately describes the treatment involved. The state approved regulations for the process through the agency.

Tucson’s planned facility is expected to cost more than $86 million, with construction money coming from the federal government. In return, the city would leave roughly 56,000 acre-feet of its Central Arizona Project Colorado River allocation in Lake Mead over 10 years. The purified water would be delivered only in the city’s northwest area, rather than throughout Tucson. Although the plant would represent a small share of the city’s overall supply, its location is tied directly to the loss of wells affected by PFAS contamination.

Tucson is not the only Arizona community pursuing the technology. Phoenix is moving more quickly, with plans to convert an existing treatment plant near Cave Creek and Deer Valley roads so it can produce advanced purified water by 2029. Scottsdale also began working toward an advanced purification system, but in June the city abandoned plans to put more money into that effort. Instead, the city approved a $100 million allocation for unspecified projects intended to identify new water sources and supplies. Scottsdale will continue using treated wastewater, though not water purified to drinking standards, for golf courses and groundwater recharge projects.

The issue has grown more urgent as Arizona faces a prolonged drought and reductions in its Colorado River water allocation. Tucson, Phoenix and Scottsdale have all been examining ways to supplement traditional supplies through conservation, reuse, desalination and other strategies. Hobbs said Arizona must use science and available technology to create water resources for the future. Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, who is challenging her in the governor’s race, agreed that advanced purification could increase the state’s supply, but said other approaches, including desalination, may be better. He did not answer whether he would personally drink water produced through the process.

Hobbs made her comments at an event celebrating the Arizona Water Innovation Initiative, a program based at Arizona State University that works with communities, industries, farmers and others on water supply solutions. She said she had invested $40 million in the initiative and credited it as part of Arizona’s effort to reduce dependence on groundwater. That claim prompted questions because the money was set aside by former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey in November 2022 using federal COVID relief funding. ASU announced at the time that it would lead a multiyear initiative focused on practical, evidence-based water solutions.

Hobbs said after the event that she did not know why she had been credited with providing the money. Her advisers said the grant remained in place under her administration and that Hobbs officials worked with ASU to establish the program’s priorities. They also pointed out that Hobbs canceled about $210 million in other grants Ducey awarded near the end of his administration, arguing that those grants had not gone through competitive bidding. The water innovation funding was not among those canceled grants, and Hobbs’ advisers said the administration considered it a worthwhile investment. For Tucson, the larger question remains whether residents will accept advanced purification as one part of a broader water strategy, particularly as the city prepares to build a plant designed to protect its northwest supply while stretching limited Colorado River resources.