For Immediate Release
Tuesday, August 16th, 2022
Contact: Josselyn Berry, Jberry@azdem.org
As Arizona Runs Out of Water, Kari Lake Puts Election Conspiracies First
Lake’s Empty Ideas for Arizona’s Crisis Hold No Water
PHOENIX – Today the federal government announced further mandatory water cuts from the Colorado River to Arizona and other southwestern states. In this next wave of drought cutbacks, the Tier 2 shortage means Arizona will have to further reduce our Colorado River use beginning in January. Instead of getting serious and focusing on this crisis, Kari Lake has been spending her time rallying with MAGA extremists, pushing election conspiracy theories, attacking law enforcement, and talking about her “secession dream.”
The ideas Lake has pitched for handling Arizona’s drought are empty ideas not based in reality and fail to bring any immediate and comprehensive solutions to the table. One of Lake’s far-fetched ideas includes piping in water from the Midwest or the Mississippi River. During a virtual rally in July Lake said, “my water plan calls for finding new ways to bring water into Arizona, whether it be through desalination or piping water in from the Midwest, the Missouri River Valley.” The Bureau of Reclamation did a thorough study of the idea of pumping Mississippi River water to Arizona in 2012, concluding that the project would cost $14 billion and take 30 years to complete.
Lake has also repeatedly said that election conspiracies are more important to her than addressing our water crisis. Kari Lake told Sebastian Gorka, “We have a lot of other issues here in Arizona. But if we don’t get our election sorted out and make sure they’re secure and safe….we can’t get into tax policy, water policy unless we have a secure election.”
Meanwhile, Katie Hobbs has an effective plan that provides immediate solutions for addressing this burgeoning water crisis that preserves our natural resources and builds a 21st-century clean energy economy.
“The ideas Lake has for Arizona’s crisis hold no water when you really examine them. Arizona families and farmers are at serious risk of not having access to sufficient water and Kari Lake is focused on all the wrong things,” said Josselyn Berry, spokesperson for the Arizona Democratic Party. “Compare that to Katie Hobbs, who only days after winning the primary, traveled to Yuma, Arizona to meet with leaders of the agricultural community to listen to their concerns about Arizona’s drought. Lake has shown how extreme and out-of-step her agenda for Arizona is while ignoring the real issues that Arizona voters care about like our worsening drought and water crisis. We need a governor who will fight for Arizona, not an extreme, right-wing agenda.”