The imbalance between water supply and demand is of growing concern globally. Rarely a day goes by without news about the dwindling surface water supplies, with the Colorado River as the poster child. Coverage of approaches to addressing the supply/demand imbalance is broad, with strategies including augmentation, reuse, market mechanisms, and conservation.
Sharon B. Megdal
Sharon B. Megdal
Director, Water Resources Research Center (WRRC)
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350 North Campbell Ave.
Tucson, AZ 85719
Sharon B. Megdal, Ph.D. is Director of The University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center (WRRC), a Cooperative Extension center and a research unit in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Other primary titles are Professor and Specialist in the Department of Environmental Science, C.W. & Modene Neely Endowed Professor, and Distinguished Outreach Professor.
Sharon Megdal aims to bridge the academic, practitioner, and civil society communities through water policy and management research, education, and engagement programs. The geographic scope of Dr. Megdal’s work ranges from local to international. Applied research projects include analysis of water management, policy, and governance in water-scarce regions, groundwater recharge, and transboundary aquifer assessment. Key engagement initiatives are Indigenous Water Dialogues and Diversifying Voices in Water Resources.
She is the lead editor of the book, Shared Borders, Shared Waters: Israeli-Palestinian and Colorado River Basin Water Challenges and she has guest edited several special journal issues. Her policy columns and Reflections essays can be found here. Dr. Megdal teaches the multi-disciplinary graduate course “Water Policy in Arizona and Semi-arid Regions”. In 2020, she was awarded the Warren A. Hall Medal for lifetime achievement in water resources research and education by the Universities Council on Water Resources.
Sharon Megdal serves as on the Board of the American Water Resources Association and is an ex officio member of the Leadership Team for the Colorado River Basin Water & Tribes Initiative. Recent professional service includes serving for 12 years as a popularly elected Director for the Central Arizona Water Conservation District, also known as the Central Arizona Project (CAP), and Board President for the International Arid Lands Consortium. Dr. Megdal has served on numerous Arizona boards and commissions, including the Arizona Corporation Commission, the State Transportation Board, and the Arizona Medical Board. She holds a Ph.D. degree in Economics from Princeton University. Dr. Megdal’s full CV can be found here.
Email address: smegdal@arizona.edu
Mailing address: Water Resources Research Center, The University of Arizona, 350 N. Campbell Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719 USA
Office Phone: 1-520-621-9591; Fax: 1-520-792-8518; Mobile: 1-520-241-0298
WRRC web site: wrrc.arizona.edu
Publications
05/22/2022
Drought and Groundwater Management: Interconnections, challenges, and policy responses
Droughts have severe impacts on the economy, society, and environment. They also have impacts on groundwater and vice versa. While most analyses consider drought and groundwater as disconnected, we argue that drought and groundwater management should be conjunctively considered. This article presents some key interconnections, identifies challenges, and discusses illustrative policy responses.
05/12/2022
Water Policy Options as Arizona Adapts to a Drier Colorado River: A Perspective
On August 16, 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced the first-ever Tier 1 Colorado River shortage. The water delivery cutbacks, which went into effect on January 1, 2022, per the “Colorado River Interim Guidelines for Low Basin Shortages and Coordinate Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead” (2007 Interim Guidelines), are most significant for the Central Arizona Project (CAP). Governed by the Central Arizona Water Conservation District, CAP delivers water into Central Arizona for use by tribal, municipal and industrial, and agricultural users.
01/12/2022
Assessing Groundwater Withdrawal Sustainability in the Mexican Portion of the Transboundary Santa Cruz River Aquifer
The impact of climate uncertainties is already evident in the border communities of the United States and Mexico. This semi-arid to arid border region has faced increased vulnerability to water scarcity, propelled by droughts, warming atmosphere, population growth, ecosystem sensitivity, and institutional asymmetries between the two countries. In this study, we assessed the annual water withdrawal, which is essential for maintaining long-term sustainable conditions in the Santa Cruz River Aquifer in Mexico, which is part of the U.S.–Mexico Transboundary Santa Cruz Aquifer.
08/10/2021
Science and Binational Cooperation: Bidirectionality in theTransboundary Aquifer Assessment Program in the Arizona-Sonora Border Region
Abstract:Sharing scientific data and information is often cited within academic literature as aninitial step of water cooperation, but the transfer of research findings into policy and practice is oftenslow and inconsistent. Certain attributes—including salience, credibility, and legitimacy of scientificinformation; iterative information production; and sociocultural factors—may influence how easilyscientific information can be used in management and policymaking. However, transnationalityusually complicates these sorts of interactions.