USGCRP National Climate Assessment

In response to prolonged drought conditions and declining storage capacity in Lake Mead, the Bureau of Reclamation called upon Colorado Basin States to develop new drought contingency plans to limit the draw-down of Lake Mead. Arizona’s Drought Contingency Plan calls for significant reductions in surface water supplies delivered to irrigated agriculture in Pinal County. This project considers the effects of these reduced water supplies on: crop production in Pinal county; Arizona dairy production and non-agricultural sectors in the Pinal County economy; and recreational demand around Lakes Mead and Powell. These surface water reductions may reduce the sustainability of agricultural production in Central Arizona.

Cooperative Extension (CE) has over 100-years of experience in delivering science-based decision support to clientele from multiple sectors. The CE structure enables a high level of connectedness and awareness of local issues and provides opportunities to assess local and multi-sector climate service needs. We are working through CE offices to capture snapshots of local climate science and service needs across rural areas of AZ and NM. Since CE agents in these states work closely with both private land owners/producers (e.g. ranchers and farmers) and state/federal natural resource managers, we will be able to assess both the needs and interconnections between private and public resource managers, consistent with the ‘nested matrix’ concept of assessing climate change impacts and responses at multiple scales.