The seminal report is “a beacon for the future of groundwater management,” said Jay Famiglietti, a water scientist and global futures professor at Arizona State University. “Its recommendations are comprehensive and forward looking, and if implemented over time, can be a game-changer for groundwater sustainability in the United States.”

“I don’t think we should be looking for any break in the severity of what we’re experiencing,” Jay Famiglietti, a professor and climate researcher at Arizona State University, told Courthouse News. “It’s only gonna continue and it’s only gonna get worse.”

Negotiators from the seven states that use the water from the Colorado River for cities and farms across the Western U.S. are running out of time to reach a deal to share the water in times of drought. Get an update on the stalled negotiations from Kathryn Sorenson. She’s director of research at the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University.

Jay Famiglietti, a hydrologist at Arizona State University who has come to AGU meetings since 1989, attended this year’s event to reveal terrifying findings about the loss of available freshwater around the world, due to the climate crisis and agricultural practices. “People like me who are experts need to step up and say, ‘I think this should be done,’” said Famiglietti.

“This lawsuit reflects, more than anything, that there has been a kind of shifting perspective on groundwater, from a resource to be extracted and put to beneficial use to a resource that needs to be protected and only to be used for certain purposes,” said Sarah Porter, director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University who also serves on the governor’s water policy council. 

“Protection of Arizona’s precious groundwater is certainly important, but this lawsuit could open a can of worms,” said Kathryn Sorensen, director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University. “Nearly every farm, city, mine, tribe, and power company in the state relies on groundwater.” Kathleen Ferris, an attorney and Arizona water policy expert who directed the study that led to the current law overseeing the state’s groundwater management, said rural groundwater use in the state “is “governed by the rule of reasonable use.”

"Enrique Vivoni pointed out that precipitation models don't always distinguish between rain and snow, which have drastically different effects on a watershed. The way to fix those problems, Vivoni said, is to incorporate another component: communication. If scientists can communicate with water managers and users, they can learn how their needs and observations reveal flaws in the models."

“We need to model efficient systems,” said Enrique Vivoni, director at the Center for Hydrologic Innovations at Arizona State University. “We must ask ourselves numerous questions with the Colorado River. Are these models good for our region? What are the decisions and trigger points that involve the Colorado River? What’s the future temperature? What’s the precipitation?”

“The media keeps insisting that Phoenix is the most unsustainable city in the U.S., but the reality is that, at ASU, we’re leading the way in developing innovative engineering and social infrastructures to help humans survive and thrive in the face of water scarcity, excess heat and other climate stressors,” Wutich said.

"The Legislature would have to pass new laws to allow for changes — either specifically or by authorizing the Director to make changes," said Kathleen Ferris, former ADWR director and a senior research fellow at ASU's Kyl Center for Water Policy. Changing an AMA into an Irrigation Non-Expansion Area is also not allowed.