News

On December 15, 2025, eight speakers, including both editors and authors of the Routledge Handbook of Water Diplomacy, provided a special WRRC Water Webinar to discuss building relationships, negotiating shared interests, and managing complex water challenges across physical, political, and societal boundaries. Over the course of the 90-minute webinar, each speaker offered a short presentation, followed by a panel during which they addressed virtual questions from attendees around the world. The webinar was co-convened by the Stockholm International Water Institute; the International Centre for Water Cooperation; the UNU Institute for Water, Environment and Health; and the Women in Water Diplomacy Network.

In January, WRRC Director Sharon B. Megdal will be the first speaker featured in a three-part lecture series entitled Running on Empty – Facing Water Scarcity across the Southwest, presented by Kol Ami Synagogue’s Dayenu Circle. Mike Crimmins, a climate scientist in the U of A’s Department of Soil, Water, and Environmental Science, and Chairman Austin Nuñez of the San Xavier District in the Tohono O’odham Nation will also speak during this series focused on Arizona’s water future.

Time is running out! All submissions to the WRRC 2025 photo contest are due by Friday, December 19. This year’s theme, A World of Water, invites you to showcase the many ways water shapes our planet and how we shape water.

On Monday, December 15, the WRRC will host a Special WRRC Water Webinar offering an overview of the Routledge Handbook of Water Diplomacy. The Handbook is a comprehensive guide to understanding and practicing water diplomacy – a framework for building relationships, negotiating shared interests, and managing complex water challenges across physical, political, and societal boundaries.

The Water Infrastructure Finance Authority (WIFA) of Arizona concluded phase 1 of its Long-Term Water Augmentation Fund (LTWAF) program by selecting for further evaluation seven proposed projects designed to develop, store, or deliver new water supplies or to stretch existing supplies.

In October 2025, ScienceDirect journal published a special issue, titled Agricultural Water Management, for which WRRC Director Sharon B. Megdal served as a guest editor along with colleagues in New Mexico and California. 

During the 1st Earth Sciences Symposium, held November 12–14, 2025, and organized by the Department of Geology at Universidad de Sonora in Hermosillo, Mexico, WRRC Associate in Extension Elia Tapia joined students, faculty, and invited experts to explore shared challenges in water resources.

The Water Resources Research Center (WRRC) is seeking a Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) for the Spring 2026 semester to support our stakeholder outreach and engagement efforts and assist with research projects. The WRRC acts as a bridging organization between academia and water managers throughout the state, providing stakeholder outreach, facilitation, and research to support communities in their water management efforts.

In the U.S. Southwest and beyond, home gardeners and landscapers are increasingly using collected rainwater to nourish their rose bushes and cactus gardens amid worsening drought and rising temperatures fueled by global warming.

Those who follow international water topics may be interested in two new publications by Dr. Pintu Kumar Mahla, a U of A Designated Campus Colleague carrying out research at the WRRC. Both articles are freely available to read online.