“Groundwater pumping has caused stream flow in U.S. rivers to decline by as much as half over the last century, according to new research by a University of Arizona hydrologist that strengthens the connection between groundwater and surface water.
The research confirms that groundwater losses, primarily due to pumping water from below the surface for agricultural and municipal uses, decrease the overall surface water supply and have caused some smaller streams to dry up. This has a downstream effect that influences water levels far beyond the groundwater pumping location.”
“That’s one of the reasons why we’re losing the San Pedro. That’s one of the reasons why we’re going to lose the Verde. Because they keep permitting all these wells, knowing they’re connected to the surface water, but they don’t consider it,” Silver said. “This is the quandary that we’re having in Arizona right now, is we have no protection for our surface waters. Unless there is a direct diversion, our surface waters are screwed. And we have almost none left.”
Scientists share these concerns and say the state’s remaining riparian areas are at risk. Katharine Jacobs, director of the University of Arizona’s Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions, said aquifers should be managed to protect riparian areas that depend on groundwater.
“There actually is very little protection for water-dependent natural environments in Arizona,” Jacobs said. “Arizona is really behind other states in that regard.”
Conservation groups have repeatedly advocated for legislation that would add protection for “ecological water” in streams, but for the past two years, these bills have died without being heard.
One court case that could have far-reaching effects focuses on the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, which was established by Congress in 1988 and includes about 40 miles of the river from the U.S.-Mexico border to St. David.
Lawyers for the federal Bureau of Land Management are seeking a set quantity of groundwater and surface water that they say is needed for the conservation area. A Maricopa County Superior Court judge could issue a decision on these federal water rights sometime next year.
The Phoenix City Council unanimously approved a water-conservation agreement with the Gila River Indian Community and federal agencies on Tuesday, finalizing a plan that will help stretch supplies on the Colorado River...
While some Utah and Wyoming rivers are overflowing their banks, flows in many Arizona rivers are hovering well below normal...
