Matt Clark
AZ Central: Recent UA study confirms ...

“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.” 

Matt Clark
AZ Central: It's one of Arizona's most precious ...

“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.

AZ Central: It's one of Arizona's most precious rivers. Hundreds of new wells may leave it running dry

AZ Central: Recent UA study confirms groundwater pumping is drying up Arizona rivers

“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.” 

AZ Central: It's one of Arizona's most precious rivers. Hundreds of new wells may leave it running dry

AZ Central: It's one of Arizona's most precious rivers. Hundreds of new wells may leave it running dry

“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.

AZ Daily Star: Ancient aquifers are dropping as Tucson's suburbs pump groundwater

AZ Daily Star: Ancient aquifers are dropping as Tucson's suburbs pump groundwater

Literature promoting the SaddleBrooke Ranch development north of Oracle touts feature after feature — high Sonoran Desert terrain with beautiful mountain views, “multimillion-dollar country club amenities,” an 18-hole championship golf course and more.

The development, now roughly 1,000 homes strong with 5,600 total planned, also has delivered something not promoted — a falling water table.

“Literature promoting the SaddleBrooke Ranch development north of Oracle touts feature after feature — high Sonoran Desert terrain with beautiful mountain views, “multimillion-dollar country club amenities,” an 18-hole championship golf course and more. The development, now roughly 1,000 homes strong with 5,600 total planned, also has delivered something not promoted — a falling water table. Since 2009, the water level has dropped 7.3 feet a year in one of two SaddleBrooke Ranch wells and 1.7 feet a year in the other, says the Arizona Water Co., a private utility serving the development. This is one of many suburban developments surrounding Tucson where underground water tables are falling and are likely to fall much farther over the next century, state records show.”

Kowalski: Four Ways to Ensure Long-Term Water Security in the West

Kowalski: Four Ways to Ensure Long-Term Water Security in the West

“Lesson #2. We need to place a higher priority on protecting and acknowledging the environment. The health of the river itself is critically important – and the river should not have to settle for the leftovers in water-use negotiations. While the 2017 U.S. Mexico agreement included specific measures to restore the Colorado River Delta in Mexico, and the System Conservation Pilot Program incidentally and indirectly provided some environmental flow benefits in the upper basin, we need to do better. We must consider the environmental health of the river to be as important as the needs for hydro power or agricultural and municipal uses.”

We pump too much water out of the ground—and that’s killing our rivers

By 2050, thousands of rivers and streams worldwide could pass a critical ecological threshold, new research shows.

By Alejandra Borunda PUBLISHED October 2, 2019

“ . . . in recent decades humans have pumped trillions of gallons out of those underground reservoirs. The result, says research published Wednesday in Nature, is a “slow desiccation” of thousands of river ecosystems worldwide. Already, somewhere between 15 and 21 percent of watersheds that experience groundwater extraction have slipped past a critical ecological threshold, the authors say—and by 2050, that number could skyrocket to somewhere between 40 and 79 percent. That means hundreds of rivers and streams around the world would become so water-stressed that their flora and fauna would hit a danger point, says Inge de Graaf, the lead author of the study and a hydrologist at the University of Freiburg. “We can really consider this ecological effect like a ticking time bomb,” she says. “If we pump the groundwater now, we don’t see the impacts until like 10 years further or even longer. So what we do right now will impact our environment for many years to come.””

Groundwater Pumping in Last Century Contributed as much as 50% to Stream Flow Declines

groundwater_pumping.jpg

Groundwater pumping in the last century has contributed as much as 50% to stream flow declines in some US rivers. This is the first study to examine the impact of past groundwater pumping across the entire US. Previous research examined how groundwater pumping affected surface waters, but at smaller scales. The researchers compared what US surface waters would have been like without consumptive uses with changes since large-scale groundwater pumping began in the 1950s.

Laura E. Condon, Reed M. Maxwell. Simulating the sensitivity of evapotranspiration and streamflow to large-scale groundwater depletion. Science Advances, 2019; 5 (6): eaav4574 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aav4574

SWWG Press Release: Two Arizona water coalitions join in nominating the 2019 winner of the Stockholm Water Prize

Contact:  Kristen Wolfe, Sustainable Water Workgroup, Coordinator, kmwolfe86@gmail.com, (203) 710-6461

March 22, 2019

For Immediate Release

Arizonans Celebrate World Water Day
Two Arizona water coalitions join in nominating the 2019 winner of the Stockholm Water Prize

To celebrate World Water Day, the Sustainable Water Workgroup and the Community Water Coalition of Southern Arizona announced that they joined an international team of individuals and groups in nominating Dr. Jackie King (Cape Town, So. Africa) for the prize.

Dr. King received this prestigious international award for her work with rivers – specifically, the science of environmental flows (quantity, timing, quality of water required to sustain plants, animals, human livelihoods). Her work highlighted the importance of maintaining these river flows as part of sound water management and sustainable water policy. More countries are turning to the science of e-flows to re-write their water laws. According to Torgny Holmgren (Executive Director of the Stockholm International Water Institute), “Dr. King has helped decision-makers understand that healthy river ecosystems are not a luxury, but the basis for sustainable development.”

In 2006 Dr. King visited Arizona as part of a tour of the Americas. Several University of Arizona and Arizona State University departments supported her visit as well as the office of Congressman Raul Grijalva and multiple environmental, business and faith groups. The purpose was to promote a dialogue about best practices in water management in a warming world.

The Sustainable Water Workgroup, a state-wide coalition of 35 groups and individuals (and the winner of the 2018 Capitol Times Leader of the Year environmental award) supported Dr. King’s nomination because it shares the vision of the need to protect environmental flows as the cornerstone of water management in this era of unpredictable climate. The coalition has drafted water legislation to study the environmental (ecological) flow needs of Arizona rivers and to allow the option of leaving more water in our rivers.  The process of sharing this legislation with water experts, legislators, and the general public has in the past two years generated debate and interest.

The Stockholm Water Prize will be awarded on August 28th, 2019 in Stockholm, Sweden.  

#WorldWaterDay: SA scientist Dr Jackie King wins Stockholm Water Prize

“South Africa’s Dr Jackie King has been named as the Stockholm Water Prize Laureate for her groundbreaking contributions to global river management.

Her work has provided tools to decision makers allowing them to quantify the real costs and benefits of developing river systems as well as advancing the scientific understanding of water flows.

In response to receiving the prize, Dr King had the following to say: “I find it humbling, energising and rewarding. I have never sought high-profile jobs but was happy to be a working scientist, free to say what I felt needed to be said.

Dr King, while a researcher at the University of Cape Town, and later as an Honorary Professor at the University of the Western Cape led the development of the tools for river management.

Her work in conjunction with her colleagues created methods to show the ecological and social implications of damming and de-watering rivers.

“Dr Jacqueline King has, through scientific rigour, selfless dedication and effective advocacy, transformed the way we think, talk and work with water as a flow of and for life,” commented the nominating committee.”

Dr Jackie King. Photo: Stockholm International Water Institute.

Dr Jackie King. Photo: Stockholm International Water Institute.

Matt Clark: Drought contingency plan fails to conserve Arizona’s precious rivers

The DCP gives no love to the San Pedro, nor for that matter to any of our state’s other beleaguered rivers, like the Verde River, whose still-perennial waters support myriad wildlife and the economies of rural Arizona communities.

Do we want any of our remaining living rivers to go the way of the Santa Cruz? Most Arizonans would say “absolutely not!” And yet, here we are.

We desperately need to modernize Arizona’s water laws to be able to sustain gems like the San Pedro and Verde rivers, and to revive cultural and economic treasures such as the Santa Cruz.

One solid step in the right direction is to pass legislation to recognize “ecological water” as a beneficial use under Arizona’s existing water laws.

This addition would protect existing property rights and allow for the voluntary transfer of water rights for the benefit of our rivers, their ecosystems and the many communities and businesses that rely upon these values.

If you care about the future of our rivers, it’s urgent for you to call on your state legislators now to hold a public hearing for SB 1370 and HB 2630 this week, lest conservation of our living rivers be omitted from our leaders’ water agenda yet again.

San_Pedro_Valley_Near_Mammoth_by_Matt_Clark (1).JPG