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Reply to Single-use plastic cutlery and plates to be banned in England by Sariel007

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jms_nh t1_j3ip9x6 wrote

Reply to comment by useless169 in Biden signs bills that secure long-sought water rights and land for 5 Arizona tribes by Sariel007

So it's kind of complicated. Intel and TSMC are going to be major water users as they build their new fabs in the Phoenix area. (To a lesser extent ON Semi, NXP, Microchip, and I think a few others have existing fabs and are water users too.) They recycle water through their systems, so one gallon goes around in circles, effectively like 5-10 times before it goes out as effluent. Still use a lot of water. But they get their water from the cities of Phoenix and Chandler, which already have sustainable water supplies from Central Arizona Project (CAP = aqueduct from the Colorado River) and SRP's water source (Theodore Roosevelt Dam from the Verde and Salt Rivers). Part of TSMC's project approval & purchase of land came with certain water rights transferred from the State of Arizona for CAP water. There are different levels of priority for access to CAP water, and the ones at the bottom are agricultural use (cotton/alfalfa/citrus etc.), if I remember correctly. So if there's a water shortage from the Colorado River, ag users give up their water before city water supplies have to reduce even one gallon. Tribal rights to Colorado River water are in the highest class of priority, if I remember correctly. I can't see the tribes selling their water outright. They could lease their share to other users... I'm not sure how that would work in practice, though. No one in their right mind would plan development that depends on water in perpetuity coming from a lease --- what happens if the lease runs out and is not renewed? But there's ways of "banking" water by letting it percolate underground to an aquifer, which then allows you to use ground water later if/when you need it. So that's still valuable even if it's not an outright sale of water rights.

It's important to the tribes to be able to manage their natural resources to the fullest extent --- so this is a good thing for them.

I wouldn't worry about the chip fabs, though.

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