Empowering rural communities with trustworthy groundwater information

In many parts of rural Arizona, wells are running dry and land is subsiding, leaving communities searching for groundwater solutions. The state has been actively managing groundwater in more urbanized areas for decades, but many rural communities do not have adequate groundwater protections. With water challenges becoming more urgent, providing trustworthy, accessible information on rural groundwater has never been more critical.

Susan Craig, director of Impact Water - Arizona, a pillar of the Arizona Water Innovation Initiative (AWII) at ASU, recently led the development of the Rural Groundwater Resilience Toolkit. The toolkit is designed to provide trusted groundwater resources for rural communities in Arizona, driven by the idea that as a basis for effective action, all residents need access to reliable, clear information. 

The importance of reliable Arizona water information

For Craig, this project builds on various efforts that she has led throughout her 20 plus year career spent at the intersection of water policy, research and rural community engagement in Arizona. She has a deep commitment to improving water resilience in rural communities and ensuring that reliable, science-based information is accessible to residents and decision-makers.

From her early career with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) where she supported local watershed groups across the state to her time at the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) working with a variety of drought and conservation programs, as well as developing Arizona Water Awareness Month, Craig has strived to support communities and their water information needs.

While with the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority, Craig led the Rural Water Infrastructure Committee. There, she says, “we collaborated with state and federal agencies and other organizations to secure funding and assistance to address water quality and public health issues in underserved rural areas.”

Before her current position with Impact Water - Arizona, Craig moved to the Kyl Center for Water Policy where she spent time developing the Arizona Water Blueprint. 

“The Blueprint is all about enabling holistic thinking around the stewardship of our water. One of my favorite projects to work on was the Groundwater Level Change App,” says Craig. “I think it really helps people visualize what's happening with groundwater basins and declines over time.”

Today, rural groundwater is one of the most pressing water issues in Arizona, while also being one of the most complex. 

“There are many Arizona communities that are primarily dependent on groundwater, it's their main water supply. It supports livelihoods, homes, farms, businesses and ecosystems,” says Craig. “I saw this first hand with our work in Sulphur Springs. One of the things I heard loud and clear was that people wanted trusted and reliable data, and they really felt like they didn't have it. We’ve continued to hear that in a lot of places, so the toolkit is really an effort to address that issue.” 

The toolkit: A one-stop shop for rural groundwater information

In response to the need for accessible, trustworthy groundwater information, Craig and her team developed a comprehensive toolkit on rural groundwater designed to serve as a one-stop resource for residents across the state. By providing a centralized, reliable source of information, the toolkit helps ensure that residents have the facts they need to make informed decisions.

“We all understand that we're in this challenging groundwater situation, but it's still hard to find trustworthy tools and information, so we took it and put it all in one place,” says Craig. “Rural communities are more open to groundwater protections than ever before and we’re doing what we can to support their efforts by providing them with actionable information.” 

By partnering with various agencies and experts, the Impact Water - Arizona team including Dayanara Avilez, Marlene Rivas, Michelle Oldfield and a former graduate student, Lara van Lith, now with the City of Phoenix, curated a wealth of resources that help local leaders and residents understand their groundwater challenges, the science behind them and actionable steps they can take. 

“The toolkit amplifies and lends credibility to our partners’ resources and data,” Craig says. “By drawing on research from ASU and AWII as well as other institutions, the toolkit provides tools and information in a way that is easy to navigate and useful to Arizona residents.”

Craig says that one of the most exciting aspects of the toolkit is how it brings together a broad network of partners, including state agencies, non-profit organizations and academic institutions. This collaborative approach ensures that the information provided in the toolkit is both accurate and relevant. 

This collaboration extends beyond the toolkit itself. Impact Water - Arizona is also hosting community-driven rural groundwater workshops across the state. 

Once an initial set of three workshops are complete, Craig envisions creating a "playbook" that outlines how to organize a groundwater workshop, sharing lessons learned and best practices to empower local leaders and organizations. This “how-to” guide will enable others to scale up the work, making it easier for rural communities across the state to address groundwater issues.

“People will be able to build on and improve what we've done, and that will make it easier to scale efforts across the state,” says Craig. “Really, anyone can work on groundwater resilience.”

Craig notes that it’s essential for ASU to play a leading role in this effort, as universities are seen as trusted sources of knowledge. 

“This rural groundwater work really plays to the university’s strengths, including the ASU Charter, which directly addresses our responsibility to care for the communities we serve,” says Craig. “We’ve got this vast ecosystem of expertise and resources, and with the diverse expertise we have in AWII, we are positioned to provide convenings where we can provide both state-of-the-art research and support community led efforts at the same time.”

Looking ahead

The toolkit will continue to evolve as the landscape for rural groundwater protection itself evolves. For example, Craig is excited about the potential to integrate what is known as citizen or community science, a way for residents to directly contribute data that will help improve models and predictions for groundwater management in rural areas where data can be sparse. 

"Arizona residents have the potential to provide a wealth of data including groundwater well levels that can fill in the gaps in our understanding of groundwater," Craig explains. “This data could be incredibly invaluable for creating more accurate predictions and for informing local decision-making.”

With trusted information at their fingertips, rural residents, farmers and decision-makers alike are better equipped to navigate the complexities of rural groundwater and work together for a resilient water future.

"It's about impact," she says. "We want to make sure that ASU’s work isn't just academic but that it helps Arizonans plan for a more resilient future. The toolkit provides clear actionable information so that residents, local leaders and organizations can understand water challenges and take meaningful action."