And if the price is right, even the most outlandish projects can start to seem more reasonable, experts say. Kathryn Sorensen, director of research at the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University, pointed out at the Boulder conference that data centers backed by deep-pocketed tech companies and large tech manufacturers are part of Arizona’s busy market for new water rights.

“It is literally like, if you could imagine all the worst possible conditions coming together all at once, that’s exactly what’s happening on the Colorado River,” said Kathryn Sorensen, who led Phoenix’s water department for years and is now with the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University.

As Arizona continues to navigate long-term water challenges, ensuring that agents are informed and equipped to communicate accurately about water is critical for their clients and communities.

That’s the motivation behind REAL Water Arizona – Improving Water Education for Real Estate Professionals, a new project led by Danielle Storey, user experience researcher with the Arizona Water Innovation Initiative (AWII), and Harry Cooper, the initiative’s director of water conservation innovation.

“We’ve gotten really good at moving surface water, and really good at treating wastewater to irrigate crops, and even desalination of oceans to irrigate,” said Paul Westerhoff, an environmental engineer at Arizona State University. He’s also the president of the International Atmospheric Water Harvesting Association, which was established this past summer as a way to coordinate the burgeoning industry. Atmospheric water harvesting, he told Offrange, is a “more intentional way” to take water out of the air.

“I think, if the definition of failure is that they don’t come to an agreement, we’ll know on Nov. 11,” said Sarah Porter, director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University. “My sense is that they’ve all tried really hard.”

ASU’s Arizona Water for All helps residents in Yuma County cope with their hard water. Arizona Water for All (AW4A) is one of the five pillars of ASU’s Arizona Water Innovation Initiative, AW4A research scientist Patrick Thomson said. Researchers went door to door to test residents’ water inside their homes and interviewed them about their experience with their water. They found that the number one issue was taste.

When Enrique Vivoni looks back on his career, he doesn’t measure success by the number of papers published or citations accrued, though he has plenty. Instead, he sees converging timelines of relationships: students who grew into collaborators, partnerships that surged into centers and communities that took charge of their own futures.

When rare bursts of rain sweep across the Valley, Arizonans can’t help but revel in the sound of thunder, the smell of wet creosote and the temporary relief from the heat. But while a soaking storm might feel like a gift to a drought-weary desert, the reality of Arizona’s water picture is far more complex.

No one understands that complexity better than Sarah Porter, director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy. 

Wildfire seasons are getting longer and hotter, threatening forests and the water supplies they protect. Forest restoration, especially thinning dense stands of trees, can reduce wildfire risk and improve water availability — but measuring the water benefits of forest management has been challenging.

That’s why Arizona State University Professor Enrique Vivoni founded the startup company Tributary. Its mission is to give utilities, governments, nonprofits and companies better tools to measure the real water outcomes of forest restoration projects.

Drying soils in northern Mexico can trigger simultaneous drought and heat wave episodes in the southwestern United States, including Arizona and states like Texas and New Mexico, according to a new study involving an Arizona State University professor.

Co-authored by Enrique Vivoni, a senior global futures scientist with the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, the research underscores the increasing persistence of "hot droughts," which extend across consecutive days and nights, hindering recovery and posing significant risks to the region.