Arizona

Arizona seeks to avert groundwater disaster

Published

2 years ago

June 3, 2023

Arizona seeks to avert groundwater disaster

Arizona is facing a severe water shortage that is threatening growth in the Phoenix area — a development that could serve as a harbinger for the region.

Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) and other state officials late Thursday said overuse of water and the drought mean that some 4.9 million acre-feet of water will not be available to meet demand.

As a result, new construction that requires the use of groundwater will be halted in the affected region.

In essence, the restrictions are necessary because all of the physically accessible groundwater in the area is already spoken for, said Sarah Porter, director of Arizona State University’s Kyl Center for Water Policy.

Arizona’s groundwater is stored in underground aquifers that take so long to replenish that the state rules require that planned homes or businesses reliant on them must be able to ensure water supply for the next 100 years.

“We have these rules in place to protect people from buying a home without a water supply, so that’s really the effect here,” Porter told The Hill. “The state is telling developers you can no longer rely on the water underneath the future subdivision as the water for that subdivision.”

Climate change and drought are a constant background presence when it comes to Western water politics. Arizona recently agreed to shoulder the bulk of cuts to water allocations for states in the Colorado River’s Lower Basin that depend on that source for their water.

Policies surrounding groundwater in Arizona are a separate issue from that dispute.

Unlike the river water, Porter said, “Out here in Arizona, groundwater is considered a non-renewable water supply.”

As a resource, she said, it has more in common with underground ore bodies like copper. “At some point, someone would say, there’s no more ore body to sell. So that’s kind of what we’re having here.”

Hobbs has sought to draw a clear line with her predecessor, former Gov. Doug Ducey (R), on groundwater preservation.

In January, shortly after her inauguration, the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) released a report outlining the unmet groundwater demand in the area. Specifically, the department determined the Hassayampa sub-basin west of Phoenix had some 4.4 million acre-feet of unmet demand of groundwater.

“We must take these actions today because in many parts of our state, there are effectively no restrictions on groundwater pumping and local communities have little-to-no support to manage water supplies,” Hobbs said in her January State of the State address, calling on lawmakers to update the state’s 40-year-old Groundwater Management Act.

“As a result, a new water user can move in, dig a well, and pump as much water as possible — even if it dries up the community’s aquifer,” she added.

As early as 2021, ADWR Director Tom Buschatzke warned of groundwater shortfalls, particularly in the largely agricultural Pinal Active Management Area.

Although the Ducey administration addressed groundwater issues as well, Hobbs “has demonstrated that she prefers to take a more transparent approach to water challenges,” Porter said.

“It was always going to be the case that we would get to this point, where all of the various demands for groundwater resulted in its being fully allocated,” Porter said.

If the agency’s decision isn’t enough to address the groundwater shortfall, state officials have numerous other options to attempt to preserve groundwater, according to Katherine Jacobs, director of the Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions at the University of Arizona.

For example, she said, they can explore options like bringing in water from western Arizona, bargaining with Native American tribes for water rights or treating municipal wastewater.

Jacobs called the move “a very farsighted decision,” adding it essentially means that the groundwater program “is working, and that is really heartening.”

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Arizona

Arizona men’s basketball at Texas Tech: Game time, odds, streaming info and more

Published

24 seconds ago

January 18, 2025

Press Room

Arizona men’s basketball at Texas Tech: Game time, odds, streaming info and more

It’s Game Day!

The Arizona Wildcats are back on the road, where they’ve already won twice in Big 12 play, to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders. This is their first meeting since 2013 and 53rd overall, with Tech holding a 28-24 advantage though the UA has won the last seven matchups.

Here’s all the info you need to watch, listen to or follow the game online:

Arizona-Texas Tech game time, details:

Date: Saturday, Jan. 18, 2024
Time: 12 p.m. MT
Location: United Supermakets Arena; Lubbock, Texas
Line: According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Arizona is a 5.5-point underdog and the over/under is 150.5. KenPom.com gives the UA a 36 percent chance of winning.

How can I watch Arizona-Texas Tech?

Arizona-Texas Tech will be shown on ESPN2. Dave Pasch (play-by-play) and Sean Farnham (analyst) will be calling the game.

How can I stream Arizona-Texas Tech online?

The stream of Arizona-Texas Tech can be streamed at ESPN.com.

How can I listen to Arizona-Texas Tech on the radio?

You can listen to Arizona-Texas Tech on Wildcats Sports Radio 1290 AM.

How can I follow Arizona-Texas Tech?

By following us on Twitter (X) at @AZDesertSwarm and our editor Brian Pedersen (@realBJP).

Arizona-Texas Tech pregame coverage:

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Arizona

SB Nation Reacts: Arizona fans weigh in on CFP title game

Published

8 hours ago

January 17, 2025

Press Room

SB Nation Reacts: Arizona fans weigh in on CFP title game

Arizona entered the 2024 season as one of many teams in college football believing it had a shot to make the expanded 12-team playoff despite an offseason of turmoil. Those hopes went away pretty quickly, with the Wildcats going 4-8 under first-year coach Brent Brennan.

To make matters worse, archrival ASU ended up being the Big 12 Conference’s playoff representative, though that did give UA fans a chance to laugh and post some jealousy laden memes after the Sun Devils fell to Texas in overtime in the quarterfinals.

All that’s left in the season is the College Football Playoff title game, set for Monday night in Atlanta between Notre Dame (14-1) and Ohio State (13-2). The Fighting Irish are seeking their first national championship since 1988 while the Buckeyes are going for their first since 2014.

Who do Arizona fans think will win? We asked, and a supermajority picked OSU.

SB Nation

The current line on the game is Ohio State -8.5, per FanDuel Sportsbook, and 40 percent of our voters think the Buckeyes will cover. Nearly that many think Notre Dame will win outright, which pays +290 on the moneyline.

A poll of all SB Nation readers has the most likely outcome being Ohio State wins but doesn’t cover. And as we all know, good teams win but great teams cover … which is another way to say Arizona was far from great in 2024 as in addition to going 4-8 overall it was 2-10 against the spread which was the worst record in FBS.

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Arizona

Efforts to boost FAFSA application rates in Arizona

Published

16 hours ago

January 17, 2025

Press Room

Efforts to boost FAFSA application rates in Arizona

PHOENIX (AZFamily)—Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Arizona Board of Regents are partnering to declare January ‘FAFSA Action Month’ in an effort to boost application rates.

After last week’s technical difficulties and delayed rollout, the Arizona Board of Regents said it prevented many students from applying for financial aid and impacted FAFSA completion rates.

From October 2024 to now, the national FAFSA completion rate sits at 54.4%, according to the National College Attainment Network’s FAFSA Tracker. During the same measured timeframe, Arizona’s FAFSA completion rate was 41.4%, about 13% lower than the national average.

Knowing that last year’s issues created a negative experience for many families, Arizona Board of Regents Director of FAFSA Julia Sainz and the Board of Regents will continue to assure parents that it won’t happen again.

”We’re trying to really elevate the message of FASFA and just letting families and students know that there is support available to help with the application also in support with the governor’s office and we also have an Arizona FASFA coalition that we partner with in order to help eleveate this message,” said Sainz.

After the U.S. Department of Education made multiple improvements and updates to the FAFSA software, Sainz said it has already created a smoother and easier application process for students.

“As of December we’ve already seen a little over 15% of high school seniors have completed the FASFA application. Knowing that there were a lot of technical glitches with the form if we look at that data back in April of last year we were at 18% so knowing that a month of data we’re at 15% is showing really great progress.”

Another way the Board of Regents is trying to boost completion rates is by partnering with the Cactus League to provide complimentary tickets to students who complete their FAFSA application.

The Arizona Board of Regents encourages families to complete FAFSA Applications sooner rather than later to ensure they meet all deadlines.

The federal deadline for FAFSA applications is June 30. However, the board said it’s important to check if the school your student applies to has its own FAFSA deadlines.

All Arizona universities don’t have specific FAFSA deadlines. However, in-state scholarships like the Arizona Promise Program have a priority deadline of April 30.

To learn more about the FAFSA application, click here.

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