Future impacts on the aquifers of Southern Arizona and the private water wells that penetrate them will be seen in three main areas: Quantity, Quality, and Quarrels. As local weather patterns change driven by the projected rise in our earth's average global temperature, the amount of recharge that our alluvial aquifers will receive will either increase or decrease. Water table elevations will rise if precipitation increases, or will continue to drop if precipitation and recharge declines. These changes will merely overlay the changes to ground water quantity and quality that are already taking place. The uncertainty of the future changes does not relieve us of the necessity to anticipate and plan for what changes will be taking place in our own back yard.
The greatest impact to private water wells from global warming will no doubt be the sudden increase in quarrels over ground water. Stakeholders with special interests in ground water will be lining up to protect the resources they already have from any further encroachments. There will be increased public concern for protecting our precious environmental assets. Even if future global climate changes result in increased precipitation and recharge, there will be quarrels over allowing any additional straws (wells) in the bucket (aquifer) because of projected growth demands. Global climate changes may not be measured just in the degrees of temperature change, but also in political, personal, and legal opinion changes that will have long lasting affects on private well owners. Private well owners in Arizona do not have an advocacy group to protect their ground water interests other than water well drillers. The Arizona Water Well Association will keep a close eye on both the changing climatic trends and the changing political attitudes towards private water wells.