美国国家公共电台 NPR--Groundwater availability will limit development in the Phoenix area

Groundwater availability will limit development in the Phoenix¹ area

Transcript²

Officials in Arizona are limiting development in the Phoenix metro³ area due to a lack of groundwater. But the development party isn't over.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

A state analysis says Phoenix doesn't have enough groundwater to sustain the metro area's rapid growth over the next century. But developers say, hang on, that's not the whole story. KJZZ's Katherine Davis-Young reports.

KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG, BYLINE⁴: Sindy Ready has been a real estate agent in Arizona for more than 20 years. She's showing me a two-bedroom that just went on the market at $445,000. With demand like it's been, she expects she'll be able to sell it within a couple of weeks.

SINDY READY: They've redone the flooring, they've added crown molding, they've done painting and new shutters⁵.

DAVIS-YOUNG: We're in the suburb of Surprise, about 45 minutes northwest of downtown Phoenix.

READY: This was kind of the outskirts⁶ of town, and, actually, now it's really not. It's just continuing to expand out west.

DAVIS-YOUNG: But there's some question now of how much more these suburbs will be allowed to expand. To build a house in most of Arizona, developers have to show there's enough water to last that property 100 years. But this month, Arizona's governor said groundwater in the Phoenix area may fall short within a century and announced the state would no longer approve construction in places where groundwater is the only option. Adam Baugh, a land use attorney here, says a New York Times article about the plan made some of his clients really nervous.

ADAM BAUGH: I think the first paragraph was like, looming⁷ trouble in the West, and the other one was, likely means the beginning of the end.

DAVIS-YOUNG: Baugh says water scarcity⁸ is a real concern in a desert megalopolis⁹.

BAUGH: But it also doesn't mean the sky is falling.

DAVIS-YOUNG: The governor does not plan to cancel about 80,000 outstanding development projects across the Phoenix area and development in places with access to surface water or reclaimed¹⁰ water will be allowed to continue too. But most new home construction around metro Phoenix is happening at its far edges, where land is cheaper and suburbia meets raw desert.

MARK STAPP: Those are the areas where the groundwater issue is the most serious and pronounced.

DAVIS-YOUNG: Mark Stapp is a longtime developer who directs the real estate development program at Arizona State University. He predicts the limits will mean building will turn back inward, closer to Phoenix's core, since longer-established cities have more secure water portfolios¹¹.

STAPP: We're going to have to stop and think about how we're going to continue to develop.

DAVIS-YOUNG: But land use attorney Adam Baugh says shifting from continued suburban¹² sprawl¹³ to infill development comes with its own challenges.

BAUGH: There's a built-in environment already. Neighbors around you, street limitations, drainage considerations, utility access - there's a reason why they're some of the last sites left over.

DAVIS-YOUNG: Baugh and Stapp both say the new groundwater policy doesn't require halting all construction. In fact, they say developers will have to find ways to keep building. Phoenix was America's second-fastest-growing city between 2020 and '21, and demand for housing statewide already outstrips¹⁴ supply by 270,000 units, according to the state government. Realtor Sindy Ready says it's one of the reasons home prices in metro Phoenix have recently been among the fastest-rising in the country.

READY: What's happened over the last five years is that we've had more buyers than we have property. That's really the reality of what we've been dealing¹⁵ with.

DAVIS-YOUNG: And she's not expecting news of Arizona's water troubles to scare those buyers away.

READY: I think people are always going to want to live in Arizona. We have sunshine. We have beautiful hiking trails and biking trails and golf and tennis.

DAVIS-YOUNG: She says the desert lifestyle continues to be a pretty easy sell.

For NPR News, I'm Katherine Davis-Young in Phoenix.

1 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 shutters   

百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门

参考例句：

• The shop-front is fitted with rolling shutters. 那商店的店门装有卷门。
• The shutters thumped the wall in the wind. 在风中百叶窗砰砰地碰在墙上。

6 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

7 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

8 scarcity   

n.缺乏，不足，萧条

参考例句：

• The scarcity of skilled workers is worrying the government.熟练工人的缺乏困扰着政府。
• The scarcity of fruit was caused by the drought.水果供不应求是由于干旱造成的。

9 megalopolis   

n.特大城市

参考例句：

• There was a lot of talent in this megalopolis.在这个城市里有很多人才。
• People converged on the political meeting from all parts of the megalopolis.人们从城市的四面八方涌向这次政治集会。

10 reclaimed   

adj.再生的；翻造的；收复的；回收的v.开拓( reclaim的过去式和过去分词 )；要求收回；从废料中回收（有用的材料）；挽救

参考例句：

• Many sufferers have been reclaimed from a dependence on alcohol. 许多嗜酒成癖的受害者已经被挽救过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They reclaimed him from his evil ways. 他们把他从邪恶中挽救出来。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 portfolios   

n.投资组合( portfolio的名词复数 )；（保险）业务量；（公司或机构提供的）系列产品；纸夹

参考例句：

• Price risk arises in non-trading portfolios, as well as in trading portfolios. 价格风险中出现的非贸易投资，以及在贸易投资组合。 来自互联网
• How do we fatten our portfolios and stay financially healthy? 我们怎样育肥我们的投资结构和维持财政健康呢？ 来自互联网

12 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

13 sprawl   

vi.躺卧，扩张，蔓延；vt.使蔓延；n.躺卧，蔓延

参考例句：

• In our garden,bushes are allowed to sprawl as they will.在我们园子里，灌木丛爱怎么蔓延就怎么蔓延。
• He is lying in a sprawl on the bed.他伸开四肢躺在床上。

14 outstrips   

v.做得比…更好，（在赛跑等中）超过( outstrip的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Technology daily outstrips the ability of our institutions to cope with its fruits. 技术发展的速度超过了我们的制度所能应付其成果的程度。 来自辞典例句
• The significance of the foreign exchange market outstrips its impressive size. 外汇市场的意义超出了它给人的印象尺度。 来自互联网

15 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。