Someone recently asked what worries me most about water.

My answer wasn’t a dwindling Colorado River, the lack of controls on rural groundwater or even the perception that metro Phoenix is running out of water.

It’s partisanship.

That probably sounds like a strange answer, considering that most of what needs to happen in water now does not directly involve the Legislature (more on that in a second).

Nevertheless, lawmakers on both sides have said they want to make water a focus this year.

And a bunch of bills have been introduced or are promised to drop in the next few weeks, many on the premise of restarting growth in the areas of metro Phoenix where it was paused.

But there’s something different at the Capitol this year.

And no, it’s not necessarily new — just building. So much so that diverse water interests who spend a lot of time at the Capitol have all told me they feel it.

The tenor’s changing around water, they say.

Partisan rhetoric is popping up in places........

© Arizona Republic