"Rural Arizonans Might Gain Protection of Their Groundwater This Year

"Residents in the Sulphur Springs Valley in southeastern Arizona are tired of waiting for the state legislature to protect groundwater in rural Arizona, where water security is increasingly at risk from over-pumping and a longstanding drought."

"In the late 1990s, Steven and Lucia Kisiel bought 20 acres of land with a new well in Cochise County, a rural area in southeastern Arizona. The couple built a straw bale house with their own hands and started growing produce for themselves and others in the area.

In 2013, Kisiel turned on his kitchen faucet and water sputtered out along with fine sediment, a sign that his well wasn’t pumping enough water. Soon after, his pump shut off, and he had the well redrilled to be 200 feet deeper.

For Kisiel, like many residents in rural Arizona, it is not a matter of if his well will go dry again, but when. Eventually, he will either have to drill a new well because his current one can’t be redrilled, or resort to paying to have water hauled to his home, he said."

Aydali Campa reports for Inside Climate News April 7, 2022.

Source: Inside Climate News, 04/12/2022