Flows in the Upper Verde River and groundwater levels in the Prescott Active Management Area (PrAMA) are continuing to decline.
The Citizens Water Advocacy Group (CWAG) has been working to educate elected officials and the public about this approaching calamity, and they need your help! Its Science Committee especially can use knowledgeable people to help develop, run and evaluate models of the situation to help publicize the anticipated future effects.
For example, the graph below, prepared by Ed Wolf, shows the declining flow at the USGS Paulden stream gage. If this continues, the Upper Verde River will be briefly dry annually for 25 miles beginning in 2060.
Meanwhile, wells on the edges of the PrAMA are going dry now, and that “dry well line” is moving to the center as we continue to overdraft the aquifer.
For more information on how you can join CWAG’s efforts to prolong the life of these resources, visit www.CWAGAZ.org or contact Dr. P. Kroopnick.