Landscaping planted after January 1, 1987 within publicly owned rights-of-way and irrigated with groundwater may be planted only with plants listed on the ADWR Low Water Use/ Drought Tolerant Plant List for the Tucson AMA. The director may waive this requirement under special circumstances. This list can also be used as a resource for residents and businesses that are interested in conserving water. The list provides a wide array of plants to accomplish a variety of low wateruse landscape designs.

Within the Prescott AMA, all plants irrigated with groundwater within any publicly owned right-of-way of a highway, street, road, sidewalk, curb or shoulder which is used for travel in any ordinary mode, including pedestrian travel, may be used only if the plants are listed on the ADWR Low Water Use Plant List. The director may waive this requirement under special circumstances. This list can also be used as a resource for residents and businesses that are interested in conserving water through low-water-use landscaping.

The list was compiled by the Department of Water Resources in cooperation with the Landscape Technical committee of the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association, comprised of experts from the Desert Botanical Garden, the Arizona Department of Transportation and various municipal, nursery and landscape specialists. Individuals wishing to add or delete plants from the list may submit information to the Director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources for consideration.

In February of 1998, the Pima County Board of Supervisors launched what has evolved into the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan (SDCP) -- a comprehensive effort to protect the Sonoran Desert, guide growth and rationalize land development in the metropolitan Tucson region. Proponents of this planning process maintained that the project would reconcile conflicts between human activities and conservation, providing benefits for both wildlife and economic development. Critics, however, have increasingly alleged that implementing such an initiative will adversely affect land and housing markets, increase taxes and create problems of housing affordability. Over time a pressing need has consequently grown for objective information about the possible fiscal and economic impacts of the conservation programs being assembled by Pima County. This report addresses that need. It is a tool in the form of an impartial framework for assessment that government officials, environmentalists, business people and the general public can use for debate and decision-making.