Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers said ephemeral streams would not fall under federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. It was a change from rules finalized by those same agencies in 2015, under the Obama administration. "The hook is, 'Waters of the United States.' Those are the jurisdictional waters," said Bethany Sullivan, an assistant professor at the UA James E. Rogers College of Law. "Well, what does that mean? That definition has evolved tremendously over time."
Climate change, rapid urbanization, and changing consumption patterns for water, food and energy pose unprecedented challenges for the water sector around the globe. Internationally recognized for its expertise in water-related research, the UA is advancing new management approaches, technologies, tools, and data to build resilience, water security, and water safety for the future.
To raise awareness about UA’s water focus and to foster connections between faculty, students, businesses, and governments, the UA Water Sustainability Program developed the UA Water Network. Organized along five themes, the website highlights the many ways faculty and researchers in UA departments, programs, institutes and centers are tackling complex water issues. The site features engaging videos, an events calendar that includes seminars and colloquiums across campus, an experts directory, and numerous links for students and researchers. The Water Network complements and works in conjunction with the UA Environment site.
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Recent News
Seven Western states have agreed on a plan to manage the Colorado River amid a 19-year drought, voluntarily cutting their water use to prevent the federal government from imposing a mandatory squeeze on the supply. "It's a hard-to-put-together puzzle, all about sharing some burdens," said Sharon Megdal, director of the Water Resources Research Center at the UA. The plan builds on water conservation efforts that have, for example, kept Southern California water use relatively flat for decades despite a population boom.
Are the irrigation water tests consistent enough to prevent future widespread recalls? Researchers are comparing tests to see.
U.S. Department of Defense funding will allow a team of researchers led by chemical and environmental engineering professor Reyes Sierra to advance groundwater purification methods.
The Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities also ranked the UA in the top 50 for library sciences, communication, earth sciences, ecology and public administration.
Events
Water harvest systems are common in residences throughout Tucson, but little work has been done to explore how these systems impact ecological processes. We therefore set out to characterize changes in ecosystem processes relating to soil health after installation of various water harvesting systems. We assessed intra-annual variation in soil properties and microbial diversity following installation of three water harvesting treatments; passive, irrigated, and greywater basins.