Water in Cochise County: Challenges and Solutions

Register here: https://tinyurl.com/cochise-county

Water scarcity challenges in Cochise County have spurred various water management solutions and collaborative efforts over time. In 2022, the WRRC partnered with Cochise County Cooperative Extension to develop a Water Factsheet that helped to distill major challenges and solutions, as well as lay out the basics of water supplies and demands. Without space in a four-page Factsheet to get into details, we are excited to follow up and partner with presentations from the local experts to share the expanded stories of Cochise County water in this WRRC Seminar Series presentation. Starting with historic news as our first story, an election on whether to designate the Douglas Groundwater Basin as an Active Management Area (AMA) was held on November 8, 2022, yielding the first citizen-initiated AMA designated on December 1, 2022. Digging into some of the factors that led to the new Douglas AMA, including high rates of land subsidence, there are many unknowns about the future of the AMA to be determined by the Arizona Department of Water Resources with input from local stakeholders. Our second story focuses on exemplary and longstanding water management efforts within the county, specifically the Cochise Conservation and Recharge Network, or the CCRN. This collaborative partnership was established to implement tangible water management projects that will increase water availability to meet current and future water demands in the region. Local and federal partners have joined forces to develop innovative projects for a resilient water supply for both people and nature along the San Pedro River. These projects are designed to work together to help sustain San Pedro River flows and the groundwater on which our local communities and the river depend.