News

Heavy rains are filling reservoirs and causing flooding across the Southwest this fall, though the region’s long-term water outlook remains grim. The season is on track to set precipitation records, with the Verde watershed slated to receive eight times its average inflow—the highest since 1972, according to the Salt River Project (SRP).

On October 30, WRRC Director Sharon B. Megdal joined other attendees for a tour of the San Xavier Underground Mining Laboratory in Sahuarita. Guests included individuals from the Green Valley Community Water Company, Arizona State Legislature, ARPA Future Leaders program, Pinal Partnership, Central Arizona Community College, Arizona Mining Association, and U of A.

A year ago, on November 6, 2025, the Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) Tribal Council unanimously approved a resolution proclaiming the Colorado River’s personhood under Tribal law. Shortly after the news broke, John Bezdek, CRIT’s lead water council, began receiving calls asking about the meaning of the announcement. These questions led him to develop the presentation he shared at a November 3, 2026, WRRC webinar, titled “CRIT Personhood for the Colorado River: Will It Make a Difference?”

On October 28, the University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center (WRRC), along with the US Geological Survey (USGS), took part in a community meeting hosted by Santa Cruz County in Nogales, Arizona, to share findings from the recently published Binational Study of the Transboundary Santa Cruz Aquifer.

A summer program co-facilitated by the University of Arizona is providing undergraduate and graduate students in the natural sciences the opportunity to conduct international water research. The program, which lasts from March 23 to May 1, 2027, includes virtual research, cultural orientation, and professional communication training. In addition, students will have the opportunity to participate in a five-week collaborative field project with water researchers in South Africa from June 4 to July 10.

When U of A football kicks off against Texas Christian University on November 6, the game will culminate a week of events celebrating the Sonoran Desert as inspiration for excellence university wide. Research by a diverse group of experts will highlight our desert’s unique contribution to who we are as a community.

Members of the WRRC Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program (TAAP) team recently participated in two events highlighting cross-border collaboration and research on shared water challenges along the US–Mexico border. On October 20–21, WRRC Director Sharon B. Megdal and Associate in Extension Elia Tapia attended Bridges Over Water between Mexico and the United States: Cross-Border Solutions in Monterrey, Mexico. Convened by the Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy and the Permanent Forum of Binational Waters, along with several institutional partners, the event brought together researchers, decision-makers, and stakeholders from both countries to exchange perspectives on shared water challenges and opportunities for cooperation.

Native peoples have been self-governing on the American continent for thousands of years, and their sovereignty as nations predates the US Constitution. In an October 27 WRRC webinar, Jason Robison of the Wyoming College of Law and Jay Weiner of Rosette, LLP, a majority Indian-owned national law firm, outlined the past and present of Tribal sovereignty and how it is being practiced in the Colorado River Basin today.

A study of drought impacts on water storage in the Colorado River Basin, published in the October issue of Water Resources Research, documents sustained groundwater depletion over the past two decades. The authors, from Virginia Tech and Indiana University, point to an acceleration of storage losses after 2019, particularly with the 2020–2022 drought.

At the San Xavier Cooperative Farm, members of the Tohono O’odham Nation grow traditional foods, work to rematriate Indigenous seeds, and follow the Tohono O’odham Himdag, or Way of Life. Amy Juan, a member of the Nation and the farm’s Administration Manager, spoke about her environmental and cultural work at a Native Voices in Stem (NVIS) webinar on October 14.