Sustainability might mean different things to different people, but the constant theme is ensuring that the resource needs of the future are safeguarded and nurtured in the present. And no resource is more critical than water. Yet water is a source of great contention in American desert cities, where states compete with states for water, cities with other cities, and ultimately, people with nature.
Western water wars read like a Hollywood drama. Look no further than Roman Polanski’s Chinatown to get a semi-fictionalized picture of William Mulholland, the Los Angeles water czar credited for supplying the city at the expense of the Owens Valley .
The demand for inexpensive housing in sunny climates has caused a huge influx of people to the American southwest, where most of SustainLane’s desert cities are located. Tucson officials estimate that between 30 and 45 percent of its economy is powered by the building industry.
