2026年9月24日 美国东部时间06:46 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻 / 美联社
亚利桑那州斯科茨代尔——凤凰城郊区斯科茨代尔放弃了将马桶及其他来源的回收水直接接入居民水龙头的计划，此前有政治候选人未经证实地声称该水是受污染的“粪水”。
这个富裕的斯科茨代尔市主要利用城市废液净化后的水来补给含水层，在其他水源短缺时可从中取水。但今年6月，随着批评声浪高涨，市议会将回收水项目和其他水利项目的拨款替换为一项用途模糊的1亿美元新水源及供水专项资金。
这场回收水计划已成为11月市议会两个席位三方竞选中的一个怪异争议点。一名候选人支持将净化后的废水加入饮用水供应。与此同时，一名前共和党州议员和一位现任保守派议员表示持怀疑态度，并质疑满足新州法规所需的安全性和成本。
该市表示，候选人所谓的“从马桶到水龙头”或未经证实的“粪水”言论，抹杀了该处理项目背后的科学依据。水务官员称，该市不到1%的废液来自马桶。
此次预算调整扼杀了一项计划：到2027年将符合联邦饮用水标准的净化废水直接加入斯科茨代尔的供水系统。
一些专家和居民表示，在西部深陷干旱、各城市面临科罗拉多河供水大幅削减之际，此次预算调整以及市议会多数派对废水再利用的反对态度，可能会削弱城市的抗灾能力。
斯科茨代尔于1998年率先开创了废水回收系统。该市的回收设施足以服务6万户家庭。
这项专业技术对亚利桑那州其他地区的水务官员至关重要，他们正计划在至少另外四座设施中复制这一模式。
“在西南部保护和再利用水资源至关重要，”负责运营该回收项目的斯科茨代尔水务部门助理高级主任布莱恩·卡森斯说道，“我们已经掌握了全套技术，已经开展这项工作28年了。”
这座拥有25万人口的城市70%的用水来自科罗拉多河，这一比例在亚利桑那州和加利福尼亚州同等规模及更大的城市中位居第一。
斯科茨代尔水务部门的员工表示，这种依赖以及数十年来的人口增长推动该市开展回收水项目以抵御干旱。官员们称，所有废水都经过超滤、反渗透和紫外线光解等严格步骤处理。
其中一部分废水被卖给啤酒厂用于酿酒。约7500人在设施参观和其他活动中品尝过这种水，但没有居民通过家中水龙头接收到该水。
随着该项目扩建陷入停滞，斯科茨代尔水务部门的官员表示，他们将在10月向市议会提交备选方案。
政治阵营划分明确
前州议员米歇尔·乌真蒂-丽塔正在参选市议会议员，她是高级净水项目最直言不讳的反对者。
今年5月的一则竞选广告中，她与演员罗伯·施奈德举着一杯清水和一杯棕色液体，指责其对手推动斯科茨代尔居民饮用污水，而她的对手对此予以否认。
一个月后，市议会通过了这项1亿美元的预算调整方案。
现任市议员巴里·格雷厄姆表示，该项目成本高昂，是对干旱的“危言耸听”式过度反应。
斯科茨代尔、凤凰城和图森的水务官员还表示，州政府新出台的关于将净化水混入饮用水供应系统的要求——例如跟踪联邦未监管的化学物质和污染物——不必要地推高了成本。
亚利桑那州环境质量局水质部门负责人兰德尔·马塔斯表示，该局正在简化新规定，但要到2027年初才能完成修订。
尽管存在争议，卡森斯表示该设施仍在正常运营。
乌真蒂-丽塔没有回应美联社多次置评请求。格雷厄姆称，高级净水项目应作为水危机中的最后手段，而非现在就推行。
“我不能想当然地认为每个游客和居民都会信任专家，甚至会倾听专家的意见，”格雷厄姆说道。
水位下降引发担忧
斯科茨代尔的此番批评之际，科罗拉多河健康状况的两大关键指标——米德湖和鲍威尔湖——今年夏天均创下历史新低。
美国联邦针对科罗拉多河的一项提案概述了亚利桑那州、加利福尼亚州和内华达州的综合供水削减方案，该方案将在2036年前每年为超过2500万人供水。
“现在可不是搞选择性政策的时候，”凤凰城前水资源管理顾问辛西娅·坎贝尔说道，“你们真的要拿这件决定沙漠地区能否宜居的大事玩政治游戏吗？”
自去年以来，美国垦务局已承诺在干旱的西部投入超过3亿美元用于高级净水项目。
根据美联社选民投票调查（AP VoteCast）对3000多名亚利桑那州选民的调查，2022年中期选举中，仅超过一半的选民表示“非常”或“有些”相信该州未来10年将有足够的水资源。另有47%的选民表示“不太”或“完全不”放心。
各州和地方环保机构领导人组成的无党派组织美国州环境理事会执行董事本·格朗布斯表示，各社区不应为了短期利益而放弃对公共卫生和可持续性的长期投资。
“当政客们为了快速捞取政治资本而信口雌黄时，确实令人沮丧，”格朗布斯说道，“我希望随着时间推移，事实会证明一切。”
Election year “poop water” claims lead wealthy suburb to drop recycling plan
2026-09-24 06:46 EDT / CBS News / AP
Scottsdale, Ariz.— A Phoenix suburb ditched a plan to send recycled water from toilets and other sources directly to residents’ taps after political candidates made unproven claims that the water is contaminated “poop water.”
The affluent city of Scottsdale mainly uses purified water from the city’s liquid waste to recharge aquifers that can be drawn from when other sources are running low. But in June, as criticism mounted, the city council replaced funding for the recycling program and other water projects with a vague $100 million allocation for new water sources and supplies.
The recycling program has become a strange wedge in a three-way race for two seats on the council in the November election. One candidate supports adding purified wastewater to the drinking supply. Meanwhile, a former Republican state lawmaker and a conservative incumbent say they’re skeptical and question the safety and cost of meeting new state regulations.
Water flows through part of the standard wastewater treatment A+ effluent tertiary filter system at the Scottsdale Water Campus in Arizona on Sept. 9, 2026. AP Photo / Ross D. Franklin
The city says the candidates’ claims of “toilet to tap” — or untested poop water — marginalize the science behind the treatment program. Less than 1% of the city’s liquid waste comes from toilets, water officials said.
The budget change killed a plan to add purified wastewater that exceeds federal drinking water standards directly to Scottsdale’s supply by 2027.
Some experts and residents said the budget change, along with a council majority that frowns on wastewater reuse, could weaken resilience at a time when the West is mired in drought and cities are facing significant cuts to allocations of Colorado River water.
Scottsdale pioneered the wastewater recycling system in 1998. The city’s recycling facility is big enough to serve 60,000 households.
That expertise is vital for water officials elsewhere in Arizona who are looking to replicate the work in at least four other facilities.
“It’s so important to protect and reuse water in the Southwest,” said Bryan Cassens, an assistant senior director for Scottsdale Water, which runs the recycling program. “Here we already know it all. We’ve been doing it for 28 years.”
Bryan Cassens, assistant senior director at the Scottsdale Water Campus, walks through the site on Sept. 9, 2026, in Scottsdale, Arizona. AP Photo / Ross D. Franklin
The city of 250,000 gets 70% of its water from the Colorado River, more than any other city with the same population or larger in Arizona and California.
Scottsdale Water employees said that reliance and decades of population growth pushed them to recycle to defend against drought. All wastewater is treated through intensive steps — like ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet photolysis, officials said.
Some was sold to breweries to make beer. Around 7,500 people tried the water after facility tours and other events, but no residents received it through their taps at home.
With the program expansion stalled, officials with Scottsdale Water said they’ll be prepared to present options to the council in October.
Political lines drawn
Former state lawmaker Michelle Ugenti-Rita, who is running for the city council, has been the most vocal opponent of the advanced water purification program.
She and actor Rob Schneider held up a glass of clear water and a glass of brown liquid in a May campaign ad that accused her opponents of pushing Scottsdale residents to drink sewage water, which her opponents denied.
A month later, the council approved the $100 million budget change.
Incumbent Councilman Barry Graham said the program is costly and an “alarmist” overreaction to drought.
Water officials in Scottsdale, Phoenix and Tucson also said some new state requirements on mixing purified water into the drinking water supply — like tracking chemicals and contaminants that are not federally regulated — unnecessarily raise costs.
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality is making the new rules easier to follow but won’t be finished until early 2027, said Randall Matas, who leads the department’s Water Quality Division.
Despite the debates, Cassens said the facility is operating as normal.
Ugenti-Rita didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment from The Associated Press. Graham said advanced water purification would be a last resort in a water crisis, not now.
“I can’t just assume that every visitor and resident is going to trust the experts and is even going to listen to the experts,” Graham said.
Concerns rise as water levels fall
The criticism in Scottsdale comes as two key barometers of the Colorado River’s health — Lake Mead and Lake Powell — hit record lows this summer.
A federal proposal for the Colorado River outlines combined water cuts for Arizona, California and Nevada that could serve more than 25 million people annually through 2036.
“It’s not really a good time to start being selective,” said Cynthia Campbell, a former water resource management adviser for Phoenix. “Are you really going to play political games with the one thing that makes it possible to live in the desert?”
Since last year, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has committed to investing more than $300 million in advanced water purification projects in the arid West.
In Arizona, just over half of voters in the 2022 midterm election said they were “very” or “somewhat” confident that the state would have enough water over the next 10 years, according to AP VoteCast, which surveyed more than 3,000 Arizona voters. The other half, 47%, said they were “not too” or “not at all” confident.
Communities shouldn’t abandon long-term investments in public health and sustainability for short-term gain, said Ben Grumbles, the executive director of the Environmental Council of the States, a nonpartisan group of state and local environmental agency leaders.
“It can be frustrating when there are politicians scoring a cheap, fast point,” Grumbles said. “I hope that over time, the facts will bear out.”
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