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Wenden: Arizona town affected by groundwater usage
Water - and whether we have enough of it - continues to be a statewide issue, and one community about 100 miles northwest of Phoenix is at the forefront of the crisis, as the state's water crisis is actually causing the town to sink. FOX 10's Ashlie Rodriguez reports.
WENDEN, Ariz. - In Arizona, water continues to be an issue, and the community in Wenden is at the forefront of the crisis.
What they're saying:
Every year, Wenden shrinks a little bit. The damage is not as obvious above ground, but the sinking is in the details.
"See the big crack right here?" said Devona Saiter, owner of Mas Paz Desert Spirit Shop in Wenden. "It’s because the building, the way that the building is pushing down, it is pushing the concrete up."
Saiter sells wellness trinkets that chime and dance in the breeze inside a building that is now shifting underground.
"It is showing significant signs of subsidence because it is sinking everywhere," Saiter said.
There are cracks in the concrete and gaps between the baseboards and the floor.
"Even customers this last year have noticed," Saiter said. "They’re like, 'whoa' — they feel like they’re sliding in."
The problem is that big Arizona farmers are using groundwater to grow around 400,000 acres of Alfalfa, along with large Saudi Arabian-owned farms. Now, the underground aquifers are running on empty.
"Very often what happens is materials collapse on each other," said Sarah Porter of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University. "So that’s when we talk about a place sinking, we’re talking about a phenomenon called subsidence."
By the numbers:
According to figures provided by the Arizona State University, the subsidence measured is at least six feet about a mile north of Wenden, in between the years of 1991 and 2025.
Subsidence in Wenden is damaging infrastructure underground. The Wenden Domestic Water Improvement District is reporting a 30% increase in repairs to its system. Its 1,500-foot-deep wells are going dry, with levels dropping steadily every month.
"Half of the wells will go dry in the next 50 years," said Holly Irwin, District 3 Supervisor for La Paz County.
Dig deeper:
Irwin says the only way to slow down Wenden’s sinking is through legislation.
"We need to deal with the issue of the large water users being able to pump as much water out of the ground as they can, with no restrictions," Irwin said. "And if we don’t address the issue with trying to protect these groundwater basins, not just in La Paz County but all over Arizona, it’s going to continue to get worse."
While the ultimate concern in Wenden is running out of water, the immediate fear for residents like Saiter is not being able to afford the constant crumbling of their community.
"It’s my goal to be here as long as possible, but I really hope that one day I don’t have to shut my doors," Saiter said.
The Source: This information was gathered by FOX 10's Ashlie Rodriguez who interviewed a Wenden shop owner, the Direcotr of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University, and a supervisor for La Paz County.