RESEARCH

Rainwater Harvesting Maintains Our House Year-round in the Desert Near Tucson—Twenty Years Experience Download

Recharged but Not Recovered: InSAR Observations of Persistent Land Subsidence in Arizona’s Willcox Basin – Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program, Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Individual Permits in Progress

US Drought Monitor (Cochise County)

Water Usage Chart:

Groundwater Use, 2022	Willcox Basin	Riverview
Agriculture	155,805	64,971 (42%)
Agriculture + dairies/feedlots	159,062	67,750 (42%)
Total water demand, all uses	167,983	40%

** does not include evapotranspiration, which fluctuates a lot from year to year

Using 2022 estimate data from the Arizona Dept. of Water Resources, we have learned the following:

The estimated total supply of groundwater, effluent, and surface streams in 2022 was 97,894 acre feet (“AF”).

Net overdraft was 70,089 AF (167,983 – 97,894).

The estimated total supply of groundwater alone was 93,926 AF.

Agriculture/dairies/feedlots were responsible for 65,136 AF of the groundwater overdraft (159,062 – 93,926).

Applying Riverview’s 42% use figure, they were responsible for 27,357 AF of that overdraft.

Riverview has said that they can cut their groundwater use in half in about 35 years by cutting 2% a year.

Based on the estimated use in 2022, half is 33,875 AF, so they would still be overpumping by 6,518 AF 35 years from now (33,875 – 27,357).

** Research conducted by Cheryl Knott