Arizona's Willcox Basin Is Sinking Fast Due to Groundwater Extraction

Arizona's Willcox basin is sinking fast due to groundwater extraction

In Arizona's Willcox Basin, just over an hour east of Tucson, fissures are tearing through the earth, wells are running dry, and strange areas are flooding when it rains. The cause is clear. As large agricultural producers pump more and more groundwater for irrigation, the water table is falling, and the land surface itself is sinking.

Arizona moves to protect Western Arizona groundwater amid years of overpumping in La Paz County

State water officials have taken the first formal step toward regulating groundwater pumping in the Ranegras Plain Groundwater Basin, marking a major shift for La Paz County residents who have long warned that unregulated water use is threatening their communities.