News

The WRRC Annual Conference, Water Conservation and Innovation for a Resilient Arizona, will take place April 26–27, 2027, at the University of Arizona Student Union Memorial Center in Tucson. The WRRC invites sponsorship support to help make the conference accessible to a broad audience by offsetting in-person registration costs, reducing fees for students, and providing free livestream access.

A new online platform combines live Colorado River data with reporting and historical context to help users understand the river’s changing status. Colorado River Basin Insights was co-designed by the nonprofit newsroom Circle of Blue and True Elements, a company applying AI to water issues, to answer the questions policymakers, businesses, journalists, and the public have about the river.

On November 4, WRRC Associate in Extension Elia Tapia and graduate student Lizeth López presented research on transboundary groundwater at the Second Earth Sciences Symposium, held as part of the Department of Geology’s Cultural Week at the University of Sonora. The 2026 edition of the symposium honored Dr. Francisco Javier Grijalva Noriega, a professor in the Department of Geology.

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.