Across the U.S., groundwater levels are dropping at an alarming rate. Nearly 50% of U.S. drinking water comes from groundwater (USGS), yet many aquifers are being depleted faster than nature can recharge them.

✔️ The Colorado River Basin has already lost 27.8 million acre feet of groundwater, equal to the volume of Lake Mead. ✔️ In California’s Central Valley, overpumping is causing land to sink and canals to fail. ✔️ Utah’s Cedar Valley has seen groundwater levels fall by 114 feet. ✔️ The Ogallala Aquifer, a lifeline for the Midwest, is drying up.

In the Southwest, where droughts are frequent and impermeable desert soils make infiltration difficult, drywells have emerged as one of the most effective tools for managed stormwater recharge.

Unlike traditional drainage systems that simply move water away, drywells treat stormwater as a resource to be captured and stored for the future.

Arizona is leading the way, with more than 50,000 drywells installed statewide, and that number continues to grow each year.

✔️ Drywells turn stormwater into a local resource. They help reduce flooding, recharge aquifers, and support long term water sustainability. ✔️ Technology and regulations have evolved. Modern drywells are engineered with pretreatment, separation, and EPA compliant designs to protect groundwater quality. ✔️ Urbanization makes recharge essential. With millions more people living in the Southwest compared to just a few decades ago, infiltration infrastructure is critical to offset demand. ✔️ Construction is straightforward but precise. Our team walked through the drywell building process, from drilling and setting chambers to backfilling, installing inlets, and conducting final percolation tests.

The takeaway is clear: groundwater loss is a quiet but urgent driver of risk in the Southwest. We cannot rely on surface water alone. Managed, distributed infiltration through solutions like drywells offers a scalable, sustainable way forward.

Great engineering workshop! Recharge our ground water aquifers!!