Impact Water - Arizona

Rural Groundwater Resilience Workshops

Bringing together experts, local leaders, and residents to address critical groundwater challenges through community-driven solutions.

Overview

The Arizona Water Innovation Initiative, in partnership with the Arizona Institute for Resilience at the University of Arizona, and the Lincoln Institute’s Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy, is excited to announce the Rural Water Resilience Workshops.

The workshops bring together experts, local leaders, and residents to address critical water challenges through community-driven solutions. These locally-driven, co-designed workshops focus on individual community needs and are tailored for each groundwater basin, connecting communities with the tools and connections they need to manage local groundwater resources.

The Call for Interest period has closed, but we encourage you to reach out if you are interested in a workshop or would like to get involved.

Workshop Goals

Engage

Community Residents

Support neutral convenings to facilitate dialogue
Explore local water management challenges & solutions

Empower

Communities

Provide information and data & hands-on guidance
Support community-driven efforts

Activate

Sustainable Groundwater Management

Implement strategies to address decline
Preparedness plan to ensure sustainable use, protection, and conservation of groundwater

Current Workshop Series

La Paz County

Champion: Holly Irwin, La Paz County Supervisor

Workshop held: March 2025

Participants from: La Paz County, La Paz Economic Development, McMullen Valley Chamber of Commerce, Wenden Water Domestic Improvement District, Town of Parker

Read the workshop recap: An Arizona community comes together to bolster rural groundwater resilience

Little Colorado River Plateau

Champion: Ron Doba, Coconino Plateau Watershed Partnership, & Patrice Horstman, Coconino County Supervisor

Targeting: June 2025

Participants from: Coconino Plateau Watershed Partnership, Coconino County, NAMWUA, City of Flagstaff, City of Sedona, USGS, AZ Water Company, Grand Canyon Trust

Patagonia

Champion: Bob Proctor, Friends of Sonoita Creek

Targeting: Fall 2025

Participants from: Town of Patagonia, Friends of Sonoita Creek, Cienega Watershed Partnership, Sonoita/Elgin Planning & Preservation Committee, The Nature Conservancy, Tucson Audubon, Santa Cruz County

Media Resources

Webinar

ASU/UA/Babbitt Center webinar on Rural Groundwater Resilience Workshops

Explore the workshop goals, eligibility criteria, and application process. Learn how these workshops will provide training and access to expert resources on a variety of topics, including best practices and tools, data development, and strategy implementation. Also, hear how local actions in groundwater management are making a real impact in Arizona.

Watch webinar

Film

Agriculture & Water in the West: A Community Takes Charge

Watch our previous workshop in action as we engage agricultural communities in the Colorado River Basin to explore and address unique issues related to uncertain water supplies and demands. This workshop focused on the Sulphur Spring Valley community, where we introduced concepts of anticipatory governance, including Exploratory Scenario Planning, as tools for decision-making under high uncertainty.

Trailer

Short film

Full-length film