Water Resources

Opinion: Arizona has plans in place to lessen the pain of a Colorado River shortage. But a key component - wells for farmers - remains highly uncertain.

Interstate water disputes are as American as apple pie. States often think a neighboring state is using more than its fair share from a river, lake or aquifer that crosses borders.

Groundwater is the largest un-frozen freshwater resource on the planet, but it is often overlooked, overused, or misunderstood. University of Arizona water researcher Laura Condon discusses groundwater and the role it is forecast to play in our future. She will deliver a talk on the subject for the UA College of Science virtual lecture series April 22.

Laura Condon spoke to Tim Swindle, director of the Lunar and Planetary Lab at the University of Arizona.

Climate experts say drought conditions in Arizona are the type usually only seen once or twice in a century and one season of rain won’t fix it.

Lack of monsoon rainfall last summer and spotty snowfall this winter combined to worsen the Western drought dramatically in the past year, and spring snowmelt won’t bring much relief.

The Colorado River is one of the most highly developed surface water systems in the world, but demand for the river’s water continues to exceed supply. University of Arizona geosciences professor Connie Woodhouse discusses the impact of a warming climate on the Colorado River. She is the featured speaker for the annual College of Science lecture series April 15.

Connie Woodhouse spoke with Leslie Tolbert, Regent’s professor emerita in Neuroscience at the University of Arizona.

When Julie Badonie was growing up in the small Navajo community of Tohatchi in the 1940s, her father drove a horse-drawn wagon early each morning to a nearby spring. There, he filled wooden barrels with water the family would use that day to drink, cook, and wash. 

Conditions in the Southwest are getting drier, but there is some possibility for hope later this year.