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- Creators: Morrison Institute of Public Policy
Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University led a public policy research team in a project to provide insight into priorities and preferences of Arizona residential utility customers for the development of future energy resource alternatives. Through the combination of quantitative and qualitative research, the project addressed four basic questions: What are the energy preferences and priorities of residential utility customers among the resource choices? What factors influence these preferences and priorities? How does energy education affect attitudes and opinions about energy and energy planning? Do changes in opinions and attitudes persist over time, or do they revert to their previous position? Following exposure to an educational energy booklet and participation in the one-day Energy Forum event held Dec. 4, 2010, several primary findings emerged. These findings are highlighted in this report.
For nearly 40 years in its most urban areas, Arizona has prohibited the sale of new subdivision lots that lack a 100-year assured water supply. Originally, an assured water supply meant primarily renewable surface water. But in 1993, the Legislature changed course and created a new path to show an assured water supply using groundwater — a non-renewable resource — with the promise that the groundwater would be replenished with surface water acquired after the fact. This report examines how this program — the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District, or CAGRD — has worked over the last quarter-century and its consequences for water management and urban development in Arizona. We conclude that the unexpected popularity of the CAGRD has created serious challenges for good water stewardship and recommend changes in the CAGRD to ensure that homeowners in CAGRD have long-term water sustainability.
What water-related questions do people at the cutting edge of economic development ask when evaluating a site for potential investment? "The Price of Uncertainty" explores how the Gila Adjudication clouds the water certainty individuals, businesses and communities need for sound water stewardship and future prosperity.
Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs) are growing popular among parents of students with disabilities, providing them options to choose how and where to educate their children with financial assistance provided by the state. Almost ten percent of state funding for education is projected to be diverted to private options in 2015. This flexibility and control offered to a parent can come at the cost of added confusion about the program. It is important that parents understand the pros and cons of the program before they decide whether or not the program is the best fit for their student.