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How is climate change impacting Arizona's water resources

Arizona Drought
Posted at 4:36 PM, Jun 09, 2023
and last updated 2023-06-12 13:04:56-04

TEMPE, AZ — At the Center for Hydrologic Innovations at Arizona State University, it’s all about water.

“Arizona is blessed to have multiple water sources,” said Enrique Vivoni, Fulton Professor of Hydrosystems Engineering at Arizona State University.

For Professor Vivoni, the future of Arizona is water.

“We see for sure the impacts of climate change on the water resources of the Colorado River,” said Vivoni.

He and his team at ASU have been working with the Central Arizona Project for the past five years on solutions for Arizona’s watershed. Looking at aquifers, groundwater, and surface systems, all of which he says are under some stress.

“Groundwater because of pumping rate, Colorado River is stressed because of drought and even on occasion our local water is stressed because of lack of snowpack and rain,” said Vivoni

Conserving our water resources one drop at a time will help to impact the earth for future generations.

“How much water for agriculture for the production of food and other products how much for industry and new industry how much water is needed for people of the state. We have to stay calm we have to take advantage of the fact that we’ve been planning for these times in many different ways” said Vivoni.