On the Water Front

Hispanic Heritage Month: meet local leaders helping communities address key water issues

As Hispanic Heritage Month ends, we celebrate our Hispanic Water Leadership Institute alumni making a difference in their communities.

Nearly 20% of the United States identifies as Hispanic. The largest minority group in the country is also the largest group disproportionately impacted by contaminated groundwater. This is due to a lack of resources and widespread inequities in funding, policies, investment in water infrastructure and education.

EDF’s Water Leadership Institute annually hosts a cohort of leaders working tirelessly to address these inequities. These remarkable leaders are mobilizing their communities and advocating for change by securing funding, advocating for policy shifts, and engaging their community members on local water challenges.

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‘We are driving a car without a fuel gauge’ — data and localization needs dominate the emerging global consensus on groundwater

Groundwater professionals have long united around the desire to “make the invisible visible.” It’s a slogan that finds its way into most conversations, publications, and speeches on the global groundwater crisis. Last year’s United Nations World Water Development Report focused entirely on groundwater. It’s chosen title? Groundwater, making the invisible visible.

One could be forgiven then for expecting groundwater to be highly visible at last week’s World Water Week—the sprawling annual gathering around which much of the global discussion on water pivots. Yet, mirroring ground-reality across much of the world, groundwater remained largely out of the spotlight. Only a handful of sessions, out of hundreds on offer, focused on the topic and none received center-stage treatment.

That is not to say there were no fruitful discussions on groundwater in Stockholm. In fact, the sessions that did focus on the topic produced some substantial conversations that provide a glimpse at the emerging global consensus on both the need for improved management at multiple scales and specific steps required to facilitate such improvements. Read More »

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Bi-partisan efforts yield important wins for water in Oregon

Oregon’s 2023 legislative session concluded with a wide-ranging drought package passing through the House and the Senate, enabling key investments necessary to building a water-secure future for Oregon’s communities and ecosystems.   Read More »

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The Phoenix area can no longer grow on groundwater. What does this mean for Arizona?

Last week Governor Hobbs and the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) released a new analysis of groundwater in the Phoenix metro area. News broke around the country with headlines questioning the viability of future development in the region. But, what does this new analysis actually mean for Arizona? Let’s dive in. 

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EDF and partners launch interactive Grand Canyon website

A new website from EDF, American Rivers, and Four Corners Mapping provides a special look at the Grand Canyon through an educational, interactive journey. The interactive tool invites people to take a tour through the Grand Canyon and learn how the complexities of the Colorado River crisis impact the Grand Canyon and its surrounding communities and ecosystems through words, images, and short videos.  Read More »

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New report: Investing in Arizona’s water future

This blog is co-authored by Rachel O’Connor, Manager, Climate Resilient Water Systems.

As Arizona’s water crisis worsens due to extreme drought and overuse, more attention than ever is being directed toward addressing this critical issue. At the federal level, an influx of funding has become available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. And at the state level, the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority (WIFA) has just begun accepting proposals for its first allocation of $200M for water conservation projects.

While differing ideas abound, it is critical that our finite time and resources are dedicated to a combination of sensible and distributed multi-benefit projects that stand to bring genuine benefits to Arizonans and the environment. Single “silver-bullet” solutions are often unrealistic and obscure potential negative social, economic, and environmental impacts.

To facilitate the conversation, the Water for Arizona Coalition, which includes EDF, has released a new report titled, Investing in Arizona’s Water Future. The report provides a succinct overview of some of the water conservation and augmentation options that have been brought forward including estimates for the water benefit, cost, and time-frame for each option along with additional considerations.

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