Opinion: If the governor and lawmakers aren’t careful, they could turn a short-term budget fix into a long-term mistake for Arizona’s water future.

It’s disappointing — but not at all surprising — that lawmakers and the governor want to completely sweep money that had previously been earmarked for the Water Infrastructure Financing Authority.

State leaders radically expanded the authority in 2022 and promised to seed it with $1 billion, mostly to bring Arizona water from elsewhere.

But they insisted on breaking the investment over three fiscal years. I said then that the likelihood of seeing the full billion was slim.

Sure enough, lawmakers failed to fully fund a second $333 million installment in 2023, even though they had the cash, preferring to fund pet water projects instead.

And this year, staring down a $1.4 billion shortfall, the idea is to give WIFA no cash at all.

WIFA has been fighting an uphill battle

I get it.

If the choice is between paying someone or building something right now, versus putting money in a fund for a later benefit — even a big one that could radically change the state’s water future — lawmakers are going to choose the here and now.

And — try as WIFA might to dispel the distrust — some lawmakers just don’t want to give the agency any more cash after former Gov. Doug Ducey brazenly, but unsuccessfully, tried to fund his favored Mexico desalination project just before leaving office.

Granted, the board has completely backed away from that effort and is working instead to create a fair evaluation process for all projects that could bring Arizona more water.

But all of this points to the uphill battle WIFA has been fighting for two years to meet lawmakers’ expectations.

It made tough choices to award $200 million

This isn’t necessarily the agency’s fault, considering how lofty and somewhat conflicting those expectations are.

WIFA exists to speed water projects while maximizing the state’s return on investment — something that also requires transparency and due diligence, both of which take time.

The board has set strategic plans and surveyed potential water users on their needs. It is finalizing a process to assess potential water importation projects, in hopes of compressing the lengthy federal environmental review process that will likely be necessary to get them built.

How much water will TSMC use? Less than you think

At the same time, it pored through more water-saving proposals than it had money to fund, and in roughly a year awarded $200 million in federal pandemic cash toward turf removal, more efficient irrigation for farmers and other conservation projects.

Those projects are estimated to save as much as 5.5 million acre-feet of water over their lifespans — a decent chunk of water with savings in every county (the agency is now working on a system to track actual water saved each year).

Ambitious water goals deserve more cash

But even if WIFA has a lot to show for its efforts, it still lacks completed projects to prove how those 2022 investments stopped persistent leaks, for example, or took stress off limited supplies.

The agency needs those stories — of the projects it accelerated by years and those that without the funding, would have never been possible — to make its case for more cash.

WIFA, to its credit, has set ambitious goals for how much water it will save (5 million acre-feet in five years) and the new supplies it will find (between 100,000 and 500,000 acre-feet in five to 15 years).

But those goals are predicated on WIFA finding another $200 million for conservation projects and getting the full $1 billion for additional water supplies.

Receive less than that, and it will severely hamstring efforts to save and find more water — both of which are critical for Arizona’s long-term water security.

Don’t make this a long-term mistake

It’s frustrating, particularly given all the lip service about water this session, that everyone seems resigned to short WIFA this year.

But we don’t need to make this a long-term mistake.

Whether it’s lawmakers or the governor, someone needs to make a commitment that when there is more cash, more of it will flow to the agency.

Ideally, that commitment would come without the stipulation that most of it fund only the projects that can import water from elsewhere.

If we want water, there also are opportunities to find it in state, and those ideas should have an equal shake at the cash.

If the goal is to provide the most water for a price that providers are willing to pay, it shouldn’t matter where it comes from. Just that it’s wet and that it flows to taps when we need it.

Reach Allhands at joanna.allhands@arizonarepublic.com. On X, formerly Twitter: @joannaallhands.

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PHOENIX — Christian Walker’s bats smashed three home runs in an 11-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels at Chase Field on Thursday, but Walker was only responsible for two of them. The third was a grand slam hit by Joc Pederson, commandeering his teammate’s bat as he has been known to do.

“We had three homers with a Walker bat tonight,” Pederson said after the game, clarifying that it wasn’t the same exact bat.

“The only bats he doesn’t use are his own bats,” Walker joked postgame.

Joc Pederson used Christian Walker’s bat to hit a grand slam tonight 👀 pic.twitter.com/xcf2ju29TS

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) June 14, 2024

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Pederson’s bat-napping earned him attention during his hot streak in the 2021 postseason while playing for the Atlanta Braves, when he was using the bat of former Chicago Cubs teammate Anthony Rizzo.

“He’s a bat guy, we’re always talking models, we’re always messing around with stuff. When I’m between two models I go to him and make him tell me which one has got the hits in it,” Walker added. “That was an awesome swing (on his grand slam). … That sweeper came in and he did a good job staying back and coming through for us. Things like that, that break it open change the game big time.”

JOC POP: GRAND SLAM EDITION pic.twitter.com/yBuQmJEc3D

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) June 14, 2024

Manager Torey Lovullo called it a complete team effort, beginning with “patient approaches” to set up Walker’s first home run, which he said set a “downhill baseball” tone.

“I felt like it was an important win. You always want to win series,” Lovullo said. “I don’t care what the Angels’ record is, I don’t care what names are missing from the lineup, they’re a very stubborn team … we took nothing for granted.”

The D-backs (33-36) managed nine hits and six walks to only five strikeouts. In addition to the nine RBIs on four hits between Pederson and Walker, Kevin Newman had two RBIs on three hits, filling in for shortstop Geraldo Perdomo, who is on a return-to-play program having played two straight games since returning.

Mickey Moniak drove in the Angels’ only run in a game they were held to 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

Brandon Pfaadt’s quality start

Starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt played with fire early, but he settled into a dominant outing that is welcomed by the Arizona pitching staff.

Pfaadt gave up one run on six hits in his 6.0 innings pitched, but he started with two Angels on base after a walk and a single. After Pfaadt navigated the inning with two strikeouts and a fielder’s choice, the Angels had two baserunners on at the same time only once the rest of the way.

“There were some sticky moments for him, it wasn’t perfect, so he had to grind a little bit early on but made pitches,” Lovullo said postgame.

Pfaadt’s Los Angeles counterpart, Griffin Canning, equaled him in length but wasn’t as effective, surrendering the two home runs to Walker, including the longest home run at Chase Field this season at 464 feet.

Behind Pfaadt, Arizona’s bullpen of Kevin Ginkel, Ryan Thompson and Paul Sewald got through the final three innings without allowing a hit.

Lovullo acknowledged after the game it wasn’t a normal situation for those three to get the call with the game in hand, but he was pleased with their work.

D-backs’ homestand continues

Arizona, having won eight of its last 12 games, matches up against the Chicago White Sox (18-52) for a three-game set. Ryne Nelson (3-5, 5.96) will get the ball for the D-backs against Chris Flexen (2-5, 5.06) on Friday.

First pitch in the series opener is at 6:40 p.m. on Friday and can be heard on the Arizona Sports app, 98.7 or ArizonaSports.com.