... Better explain residential irrigation for the non-Phoenecians, Joe.... The Phoenix area has three dark, dirty secrets that surprise non-residents:
1) Salt River Project (SRP) irrigation. Thanks to government largesse in the past many residences are entitled to receive huge quantities of scarce water for a very low cost to irrigate their property. Water is distributed through a canal system into laterals and then to distribution gates by SRP. Employees, called zanjeros as a courtesy to hispanic heritage, open and close gates, and generally monitor water distributions. Property owners are responsible for the distribution system downflow of the distribution gates.
In the case of my fixer-upper in central Phoenix, a rather large pipe runs under a supermarket parking lot to a gate box where sliding steel plates direct flow either to my property or to a baptist church about a block away. My pipe runs under several neighbors' driveways.
It's the responsibility of the property owner (or agent) to check the water distribution schedule and ensure the water is properly directed. Seasonal schedules vary, and one year the water distributions varied among about 8 a.m., 4 p.m., and 1 a.m. (!!! :shock: ).
2) Municipal boundaries drawn by an Etch-a-Sketch. The Phoenix metropolitan area comprises something like 27 municipalities. They compete with one another to annex unincorporated developed tax-paying property and avoid annexing expensive infrastructure such as roadways. Some areas look like they were laid out fractally with five-foot strips spiralling and looping around one another. Unbelievable, often humorous, and without compare anywhere else.
3) Coccidioidomycosis ("Valley Fever"). Endemic throughout the deserts of Arizona and southern California, plus some of the California central valley. It is an illness borne by spores that live in the soil. Valley fever is rather mild and flu-like when contracted by most people and usually confers lifetime immunity. However for tens of thousands of people it's much more serious, involving severe respiratory consequences, permanent susceptability, and even death. Most people will have to deal with it if they live here for any substantial time, and there is no cure.
The Convention and Visitors' Bureau doesn't brag about coccidioidomycosis.
