Arizona’s Hidden Crisis: How Drained Aquifers Are Cracking the Ground Beneath a Growing State
Beneath the widely celebrated story of rapid growth and economic expansion in Arizona, a slower and far more dangerous emergency is taking shape—largely out of sight. For decades, underground aquifers acted as a natural buffer, quietly supplying water to cities, farms, and industries while stabilizing the land above them. Today, those reserves are being depleted far faster than nature can replenish them, setting off a chain reaction with permanent consequences. As groundwater levels drop, the sediments below the surface begin…