Over the past 20 years, the Tucson Active Management Area has experienced fluctuations in aquifer storage. These changes are a result of recharging imported water and changing groundwater pumping regimes. The USGS uses microgravity to directly measure storage changes in space and time, while Tucson Water measures depth to water in its measurable production wells in an annual round-up. By examining the data from both agencies, it is possible to characterize changes in the regional aquifer and monitor interesting trends in specific geographic areas.
Brown Bag Seminar Series
Bring your lunch and join us for a range of presentations on water-related topics of interest.
Access to the WRRC’s Brown Bag series now routinely includes offsite listeners through live webcasts via Goto-Webinar and in-house video coverage.
The slide presentations of most seminars are also available for viewing on the website.
Get updates on upcoming Brown Bag Seminars
Upcoming Brown Bag Seminars
February 20, 2020
Brown Bag
Changes in aquifer storage derived from microgravity and water level monitoring in the Tucson Active Management Area
February 18, 2020
Brown Bag
Committees of the Governor’s Water Augmentation, Innovation, and Conservation Council
This second webinar in the “Get Ready” series will focus on committees under the Governor’s Water Augmentation, Innovation, and Conservation Council. Philip Richards, Chair of the Desalination Committee, will discuss why desalination is being used as a possible solution for Arizona’s current water challenges and how it can help meet future water needs. In addition, committee Chair Wade Noble and Co-Chair Timothy Thomure will provide updates from the Long-Term Water Augmentation and Post-2025 AMAs Committees.
Previous Brown Bag Seminars
February 04, 2020
Brown Bag
Reflecting On The Past, Looking To The Future: The Groundwater Management Act
Offering perspectives on the water management challenges that Arizona faced in 1980 and the strategies and framework that were set in place with the passage of the Groundwater Management Act. How has the framework withstood the test of time? What lessons can we take with us to guide us in shaping the policy and strategies for the 5th Management Plans and for the Active Management Areas beyond 2025?
January 22, 2020
Brown Bag
Energy-Water-Air Conditioning Nexus
The dynamic relationship between water and energy has become a national topic in recent years and is of particular interest to those in Arizona, where projections of water scarcity and changes in electrical generation are frequently reported in the media.
December 04, 2019
Brown Bag
Integrated hydrologic modeling at the continental scale; scientific advances and research needs
Connections between groundwater depth, surface runoff and plant water use are well established. Still, much of the work to explore these connections has been completed on the catchment scale, and groundwater-surface water interactions are largely excluded or greatly simplified in continental and global modeling efforts.
November 19, 2019
Brown Bag
Heat Mitigation through Green Infrastructure
This year, Tucson, the 3rd fastest warming city in the U.S., experienced its 2nd hottest summer on record and 11th straight summer ranked in the top ten hottest. Urban infrastructure—buildings, pavement, etc.—exacerbates extreme heat risk. Arizona Project WET (APW) and Watershed Management Group (WMG) started the Recharge the Rain (RtR) project in Tucson in 2017 to build community resilience to local climate impacts.
November 08, 2019
Brown Bag
The Economic Impact of Arizona's Rivers, Lakes, and Streams: How water-based outdoor recreation contributes to state and local economies
Audubon Arizona commissioned a report to evaluate the economic contributions of the water in Arizona’s rivers, lakes, and streams. In order to conserve and protect the waterways we care about
October 28, 2019
Brown Bag
Will desalination resolve the Israeli-Arab water conflicts? - And If not, why?
The water conflicts between Israel and its neighbors are often viewed as a zero-sum game; however, that view is outdated. Mutually beneficial options exist when the parties realize that they have much in common in terms of protecting shared resources.
October 23, 2019
Brown Bag
You’ve Got it All Wrong About Water
Scarcity of water, high population density, power imbalances, and climatic stressors are the main factors that push countries towards either cooperation (technical or political) or disputes in transboundary river basins.
October 16, 2019
Brown Bag
Lesson Learned from the 2018 E. coli Outbreak Investigation and the Future of Food Safety
The University of Arizona is researching the Spring 2018 E. Coli contamination of Yuma-grown romaine lettuce to help determine environmental influences on bacterial persistence and distribution in the Yuma agricultural region. The goal of the work, which is being conducted in partnership with U.S. Food and Drug Administration, state agriculture officials and local growers, is to improve growing and harvesting practices, to mitigate contamination risks, and ultimately to enhance produce safety.
October 08, 2019
Brown Bag
An Update on the Santa Cruz River Heritage Project
The Santa Cruz River Heritage Project recharges reclaimed water and provides a riparian area in downtown Tucson. This presentation will present how we planned, permitted and executed the project and its current operation. We will share observations made so far as well as some future expectations.