Research project to develop better tools for Pinal agriculture
Researchers from the University of Arizona are working on groundwater and agricultural research that could help sustainable farming practices in central Arizona. The project, funded with a $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and led by the University of California, Davis, integrates over two dozen experts from institutions in Arizona, California and New Mexico. … As a megadrought drains the Colorado River reservoirs and water cuts are enacted, farmers across the Southwest are turning to groundwater to sustain their operations. This has caused unprecedented overdraft in aquifers in the Central Valley of California, central Arizona and the Lower Rio Grande basin in New Mexico, according to project leaders.