The Yavapai County Water Advisory Committee used to work with the federal government to monitor groundwater in the Verde Valley.
The committee was funded by communities throughout the county and the Verde Valley.
Founded in 1999, the committee was created when studies seemed to indicate that the county’s population would double over the next 10 years, meaning water would likely become more of an issue than it already is.
The pace of growth didn’t happen as predicted but the data was still collected.
It’s still important data, as groundwater has a direct effect on the Verde River and keeping an eye on it will help make sure that the river continues to flow instead of becoming just another dry Arizona river bed.
Last week, the Cottonwood City Council agreed to take over some of the responsibility for paying for the continued data collection in an agreement with the U.S. Geologic Survey.
To read the full story, see the Wednesday, June 10, edition of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
