2014-04-29 Our water budget is out of balance

With California reeling from damaging water shortages in the Central Valley and more than a decade of drought in the arid Southwest, it’s a good time to think about our budgets – not only financial accounts, but “water budgets.” A water budget is simply an accounting of water resources, the amount entering and leaving, and stored in, a drainage basin (watershed) or aquifer. Water budget estimates can provide holistic views of water resources for an area like the Verde River and its tributaries, a remarkable aquatic habitat and riparian gem in Arizona.

To learn more, view a pdf of CWAG's monthly column in the Prescott Daily Courier, published April 29, 2014.