News

The "Green Desert," an hour-long documentary featuring Southern California’s Imperial Valley, a highly productive agricultural area that depends on the Colorado River, discusses drought and other water issues affecting Imperial Valley agriculture and will air on multiple PBS affiliate stations on April 23, 2025, at 11:00 pm MST.

An article titled “Assessing the Relationship Between Groundwater Availability, Access, and Contamination Risk in Arizona's Drinking Water Sources,” authored by Simone Williams and co-authored by WRRC Director Sharon B. Megdal, Adriana A. Zuniga-Teran, David M. Quanrud, and Gary Christopherson, appears as a Feature Paper in the April 2025 issue of the journal "Water."

On April 22, in celebration of Earth Day 2025, the WRRC and the ASU Water Institute are teaming up to co-host a livestreamed panel, Poisoning the Well: How Forever Chemicals Contaminated America, the title of a newly released book by environmental journalists Sharon Udasin and Rachel Frazin.

On May 20, 2025, the WRRC will host a pre-conference workshop titled "Better Listening to Help Transform Water Conflicts." The 2.5-hour workshop will be led by Dr. Aaron Wolf, who will discuss the conflict and cooperation surrounding shared water resources internationally and throughout the western US and introduce participants to the processes of conflict transformation. Space is limited and only open to conference registrants.

Water Awareness Month (WAM) is celebrated annually in April in Arizona, and this year, there will be many events and opportunities throughout the state for the public to learn about different ways to conserve water. Celebrate with the WRRC by attending our April 11 and 15 Water Webinars!

On March 28, 2025, the WRRC hosted a water webinar featuring Universidad de Sonora Professor Elia Tapia, who detailed a prioritization process for evaluating the conditions of US-Mexico transboundary aquifers, a tool for optimizing resource allocation for regional groundwater research and policy.

Arizona Project WET (APW) has a new Program Supervisor in town … actually, in many Arizona towns! Kirstyn Kay, someone you may recognize from a previous water festival held near you, is now supporting outreach, education, and engagement wherever the need takes her — from Yuma to Yavapai County and from Globe to Casa Grande.

Early Bird registration closes on Monday, April 7, for the WRRC 2025 Annual Conference. While we strongly encourage in-person attendance, we are pleased to announce that registration for the non-interactive Zoom livestream (which is free) is now open for those unable to join us in person. Don't delay — register now!

The Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education (JCWRE) recently announced its new publishing platform. The JCWRE is a publication of the Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR) and is now being published through Digital Commons, which offers open access to readers.

On Wednesday, March 19, 2025, WRRC Director Sharon B. Megdal was the featured speaker for the third and last of the Spring 2025 Tumamoc Talks lecture series, Making Agriculture More Sustainable in Arid Lands, held at the Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill in Tucson, AZ. These talks, which are hosted by the U of A Arizona Institute for Resilience, focus on the science, ecology, history, and culture of the Sonoran Desert.