TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A new research facility on Tucson’s north side is expected to help farmers and ranchers across the country better manage water resources, protect soil and maintain agricultural productivity in increasingly challenging environmental conditions.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture officially opened the Southwest Watershed Research Center’s newest research complex Tuesday, Oct. 27, with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The 15,650-square-foot facility includes laboratories, collaborative workspaces and research infrastructure designed to support scientists with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and the University of Arizona.
“This facility will help develop the tools our farmers need to conserve water, to protect soil and to sustain productive working lands,” Rollins said during the ceremony.
The Southwest Watershed Research Center has been conducting research into water movement, soil erosion and environmental conditions in semiarid regions for more than 70 years. Its work has helped inform agricultural and land-management practices throughout the Southwest and beyond.
Rollins said the new facility will give researchers additional resources to address challenges that farmers and land managers face every day.
“The amazing team of scientists here at the Southwest Watershed Research Center will be focused on discovering scientific answers to questions that farmers and land managers are asking themselves daily,” Rollins said.
According to Scott Hutchins, USDA undersecretary for research, education and economics, the facility will allow scientists to expand their use of technology to better understand environmental conditions and agricultural production.
“For example, we’ll employ remote sensing techniques that will monitor vegetation, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, at scales that will allow us to improve the production systems,” Hutchins said.
Evapotranspiration refers to the combined amount of water evaporating from the ground and other surfaces and water released into the atmosphere by plants. Monitoring those conditions can help researchers better understand how much water is available to vegetation and how efficiently agricultural operations use it.
The research will also support field studies at two established research locations: the Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed near Tombstone and the Santa Rita Experimental Range south of Tucson.
Scientists use tools including drones, rainfall simulators and drought studies to measure runoff, examine soil erosion and evaluate how vegetation responds to limited water supplies.
Hutchins said the department's goal is to translate that research into practical applications rather than simply expand scientific knowledge.
“At the Agriculture Research Service, we’re not just researching for the sake of research, we are defining discovery goals that will have an impact,” Hutchins said.
The center traces its origins to 1951, when researchers began studying soil erosion and natural resource challenges in the region. The new facility represents an investment in continuing that work as water availability and soil conservation remain important challenges for agriculture throughout the American Southwest.
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Eddie Celaya is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9. Born in Tucson and raised in the Phoenix area, Eddie is a life-long Arizonan and graduate of the University of Arizona who loves the desert and mountains and hates the cold. Previously, Eddie worked in print media at the Arizona Daily Star. Share your story ideas with Eddie at edward.celaya@kgun9.com, or by connecting on Facebook or Instagram.
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