While chatting with a grower recently, he shared a saying he once heard: “You can mess with a guy’s wife, but you can’t mess with his water.” Depending on your sense of humor, that saying might come across as a bit crude, but I use it because it paints a picture of the realities of Western water disputes.

While this agreement is a significant step forward, it does not address the underlying issues in managing the aquifer. It merely buys some time for the state to formulate a more practical and effective management strategy before we find ourselves in a similar situation in the next growing season.