Groundwater Policy Statement
As an environmental group pledged to protect intact habitats and natural resources, CRC acknowledges that groundwater pumping for industrial scale agriculture and mining poses very real threats to underground aquifers and the health of riparian habitats. Wildlife and human communities depend on reliable water resources. Aquifers are being over exploited in many parts of the state but particularly in the Sulphur Springs Valley. The San Simon Sub-basin is seeing more large-scale agricultural development every year. Groundwater is a finite resource. Once it’s gone it will take millennia to recover. This is a complex issue and any solutions, when created, will be through state and county level political and legal processes that are largely beyond the capacity and resources of the Chiricahua Regional Council. Fortunately, there are several competent organizations that are working diligently on the groundwater problem in Arizona.
CRC urges our membership to support the efforts of those specifically working to ensure a safe water future for our area and beyond. For more information or to join that effort, here are two organizations to contact:
- Water for Arizona – a statewide coalition supported by Environmental Defense Action Fund, Audubon, American Rivers, and others.
- Cochise Groundwater Stewards – a citizen’s organization in the Sulphur Springs Valley fighting to strengthen groundwater protections.
For high quality, in-depth investigative reporting on water resources and groundwater depletion in Arizona, including several focused on articles about Cochise County, see the stories by Ian James of the Arizona Republic.
Additional non-advocacy resources with reliable facts about groundwater in Arizona include:
- The University of Arizona’s Water Resources Research Center, especially their county Factsheets.
- The Arizona Department of Water Resources, especially their overview of the 1980 AZ Groundwater Management Act and their detailed 2023 reports on water supply and demand in the Douglas and Willcox areas.
CRC pledges to advocate for sensible water policy when appropriate and to inform membership as developments occur.
