Author: Elise Ketcham, Communications Manager, Arizona Wildlife Federation

Elise has been a dedicated team member of the Arizona Wildlife Federation for over two years. She is an advocate for the protection of and public education about our wildlife species and public lands. A passionate birder and regular hiker, she also leads AWF's All Afield Hikes once a month.

Every river, stream, wetland, and ephemeral wash in Arizona plays a role in supporting life across our landscape. When water is present and functioning within a healthy system, wildlife thrives, recreation expands, and local businesses and communities benefit. But when those systems are disrupted, the impacts ripple quickly across both ecosystems and people.

While most of us in the conservation space appreciate the importance of water quality and quantity in Arizona on an ecological level, sometimes economic numbers speak more clearly, especially to our decision-makers. A recent analysis from Audubon Southwest provides data backing the economic importance of water in Arizona. According to their study, between September 2024 and August 2025, water-based outdoor recreation generated more than $11.7 billion in economic output in Arizona, contributed $6.9 billion to the state’s GDP, and supported more than 72,000 jobs. Roughly 2.2 million Arizonans participate in water-based outdoor recreation each year.

Those numbers reflect the economic powerhouse of guides, outfitters, rural communities, and small businesses that depend on both water quality and quantity. But they also point back to something fundamental in conservation: wildlife habitat.

Riparian areas, those lovely green ribbons along rivers and streams, make up less than 1% of Arizona’s landscape yet support the majority of the state’s wildlife at some point in their lives. Birds rely on them for migration and cover for their young. Amphibians depend on them for breeding. Mammals use them as travel corridors across otherwise dry and often hot terrain.

Water is often the limiting factor in a dry state like Arizona, meaning it can directly curb a population’s size and growth. When water systems are disrupted, the impacts compound quickly. Reduced flows shrink available habitat. Warmer, shallower water stresses fish and amphibians. Declining water quality further limits what species can survive. In a place where water is already scarce, these issues are amplified.

In Arizona, water quantity and water quality are inseparable. You cannot have a healthy habitat without enough water, and you cannot support wildlife if that water is degraded. The same goes for us. We need a sufficient water supply to continue supporting our growing communities, and we need clean water for our own health.

Protecting water in Arizona means considering it at a systemic level: watershed health, groundwater management, flow regimes, and policy decisions that recognize the full value of water across the landscape.

And that brings us back to the bigger picture. The same systems that support people, native wildlife, and riparian habitat are also driving billions of dollars in economic activity and supporting tens of thousands of jobs across the state. The findings from Audubon Southwest’s analysis reinforce what’s visible on the ground: when water systems are healthy, Arizona works, both ecologically and economically.

Because in Arizona, water is the foundation on which everything else depends.