Outdoor recreation is an essential part of life in Arizona, with its diverse landscapes supporting a variety of outdoor pursuits. While the state may be best known for its iconic desert terrain, Arizona has several rivers, lakes and other bodies of water that enable or enhance recreational opportunities. This research, conducted by Southwick Associates for Audubon Southwest, found that over 2.2 million adult Arizona residents (39% of the state’s adult population) spent a combined 62 million days participating in water-related outdoor recreation in the state between September 2025 and August 2025. Arizona residents and non-resident visitors spent over $9.7 billion in the state to support their water-related outdoor recreation during that time. That spending created over $11.7 billion in economic output within Arizona, adding over $6.9 billion to the state’s GDP. It also supported over 72 thousand jobs in the state, with those jobs paying annual wages of nearly $4 billion.