Thread by @robodellaz

For the past six months, I’ve traveled with @ByIanJames and @HenleMark through rural Arizona to investigate Arizona’s next water crisis: a free-for-all in the desert where there are no rules on pumping groundwater. THREAD

@ByIanJames @HenleMark Water levels have plummeted in many unregulated areas. Some wells have fallen more than 200 to 400 feet. Huge industrial farms have moved in from other states and foreign countries to pump out even more. Homeowners wells are going dry, and no one will help them.

@ByIanJames @HenleMark Megafarms and deeper wells are draining the water beneath rural Arizona – quietly, irreversibly. This is water that has built up over thousands of years.
azcentral.com/in-depth/news/…

@ByIanJames @HenleMark In rural Arizona, there are no groundwater rules. If you get a drilling permit, you can pump however much you want. This has enticed huge corporate farms and investment funds to buy up rural land for its water.
azcentral.com/in-depth/news/…

@ByIanJames @HenleMark We profiled 7 industrial farms operations draining Arizona’s aquifers. They range from a cattle operation in Wilcox, to Saudi hay farmers in Vicksburg, to a pistachio grower in Kingman. Our drone team with @photochowder did a fantastic job getting aerials.

@ByIanJames @HenleMark @photochowder In Willcox, Richard and Julie Willson had their well go dry as Julie was taking a shower. They had no choice but to haul water from their restaurant in buckets and then truck in water. Thanks to @JZarracina for the graphic.

@ByIanJames @HenleMark @photochowder @JZarracina Around Willcox, farms are drilling wells a half mile deep as residents are paying the price. An enormous diary called Riverview is expanding to 150,000 cattle. Residents believe the water won’t last.
azcentral.com/in-depth/news/…

@ByIanJames @HenleMark @photochowder @JZarracina To see the degree water has effected everyday life in La Paz County, look at the Salome High School 8-man football team. The Frogs have green uniforms. But that’s the only green on the field. They play on dirt, because the water company asked the school not to water the field.

@ByIanJames @HenleMark @photochowder @JZarracina Residents of Salome, Wenden and Vicksburg have been enraged by foreign companies who have moved in to pump groundwater to grow hay. They send most of it home to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
media.giphy.com/media/LkZiijVB…

@ByIanJames @HenleMark @photochowder @JZarracina Here is a time lapse of Vicksburg in La Paz County

@ByIanJames @HenleMark @photochowder @JZarracina The situation has put residents of conservative La Paz County in a strange place: calling for government regulation and for new taxes to raise money for homeowners whose wells have gone dry.
azcentral.com/in-depth/news/…

@ByIanJames @HenleMark @photochowder @JZarracina Our team at USA Today pitched in with amazing graphics like this one from @mitchthorson. It shows the effect of Arizona’s 1980s Groundwater Management Act, which left rural Arizona unregulated but put water rules in place in urban areas.

@ByIanJames @HenleMark @photochowder @JZarracina @mitchthorson Speaking of urban areas, if you live in Phoenix or Tucson you might say why do I care? Because for years groundwater beneath Arizona’s big cities has been spared. But that’s about to change.
azcentral.com/in-depth/news/…

@ByIanJames @HenleMark @photochowder @JZarracina @mitchthorson Layered throughout the story are amazing photos and videos by @HenleMark. His work on the San Pedro River showcases why that river needs to be saved. And his video of the problems in La Paz County is incredible. Mark also found numerous sources through his travels.

@ByIanJames @HenleMark @photochowder @JZarracina @mitchthorson The San Pedro River is one of Arizona’s last free flowing rivers. But hundreds of new wells are leaving it running dry by sucking up the groundwater that nourishes it.
azcentral.com/in-depth/news/…

@ByIanJames @HenleMark @photochowder @JZarracina @mitchthorson No one comprehensively tracks dry wells. But we are now. Please help us continue investigating. If you have a failing well or a dry well, or a tip, tell us about it here: arizona-republic.forms.fm/declining-grou…

@ByIanJames @HenleMark @photochowder @JZarracina @mitchthorson Thanks to all the people that helped this project come together. @ByIanJames @HenleMark , @jsusong, @shaunmckinnon, @mgsquires @gburton , @JPMcDonnall Leah Trinidad, @photochowder , Thomas Hawthorne, @mitchthorson , @JZarracina @shawnjsullivan @kimbui @d__woodward END