A pipeline from the Midwest.
Towing an iceberg from Greenland.
Hauling water from the Pacific Northwest.
Engineering-wise, experts say all are possible, though not probable.
While desalination does seem closer to becoming a reality for Arizona, water experts say there are options that can be worked on today to get more water flowing in the near future.
Don Titmus of Mesa is a horticulturist and permaculture designer who takes one of those options very seriously: rainwater harvesting.
"If people are harvesting water on their properties, they're using less municipal water so it can go to higher needs," he told ABC15.
He uses his backyard as a classroom to teach people how to make rainwater harvesting make sense.
For Titmus, who owns Four Direction Permaculture, that means creating a system to store water in drums, and strategic xeriscaping.
"If we can concentrate the available water that we have into the places where it's needed the most, away from our buildings so we don't impact the building, then we're making intelligent water harvesting decisions," he told ABC15.
It's the kind of permanent reduction in municipal outdoor water use that Sarah Porter, Director of ASU Kyl Center for Water Policy, could extend city water supplies many years into the future.
Seventy percent of water we use is for things like landscaping and pools, but Porter says if cities get more aggressive about encouraging residents to keep most water use indoors, more can be recycled.
"The city would have more opportunity to reuse more water. It's like having more it's like acquiring new water supplies," Porter told ABC15.
Because she says 93% of that water is treated and then reused in some way.
And the more water down the drain, the more that can be treated.
"Conservation combined with reuse is a super powerful tool for cities that have robust portfolios. And that's the bigger older cities in the greater Phoenix area," she told ABC15.
Another potential supply is straddling the Maricopa and La Paz County lines about 60 miles west of Phoenix.
The Harquahala Basin was set aside by lawmakers specifically to import water to Maricopa, Pinal, and Pima counties.
"The idea would be that the groundwater could be withdrawn, it would need to be treated, and then it could be piped to the CAP (Central Arizona Project) canal," she said.
Two other basins Butler Valley and McMullen Valley in western Arizona have also been designated as potential new water sources for cities.
But she says right now the Harquahala is most practical.
"There is a big supply of water there. It's convenient to the CAP. It's totally feasible to develop it," he said.
Then there's the Bartlett Dam.
"SRP could actually be storing more water," she said.
The Verde River produces more water than the dam can hold.
So, the Salt River Project (SRP) with several cities are working on plans to make the dam higher and its reservoir bigger to hold water that is currently being wasted.
"Unlike other SRP water, it could be used anywhere, anywhere in the Valley," she said.
It's about 15 years away if approved.
Which is not soon enough for Titmus who is doing what he can in his own backyard.
"Whenever it rains here, I have a water harvesting machine whether I'm here or not," he said.
And teaching others how to do the same.
