December 8, 2017 / Volume 5, Issue 34
Hats off to LaVonne Walton,  
WRRC Business Manager!     
    
If you have had financial dealings with the Water Resources Research Center because you attend our conference, sponsor a program, are a partner on a grant, or purchase Arizona Water Maps or other WRRC publications, you have interacted directly or indirectly with LaVonne Walton. LaVonne is retiring this month after ten years of service to the WRRC and 28 years total at the University of Arizona. LaVonne did everything from making sure the lights stay on to shepherding federal grant proposals through the University Fastlane system. She will be missed. Her knowledge of University policies and procedures, her relationships with colleagues all over campus, and her willingness to work hard have helped us to achieve our mission. 
WRRC EVENTS
Looking Ahead to Spring 2018 Brown Bags Tentative Schedule
  • January 17 - George Frisvold, Professor, Specialist AREC
  • January 23 - Cynthia Wallace, USGS Research Geographer
  • February 6 - Maria Dadgar, Executive Director of ITCA
  • February 21 - Jacob Petersen-Perlman, Research Analyst WRRC, Sharon B. Megdal, Director WRRC, and James Callegary, Hydrologist, USGS
  • February 22 -John Fleck, Author and Water Resources Program Director, University of New Mexico
  • March 13 - Ben Wilder, Director, Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill
  • April 12 - Felicia Marcus, Chair, CA State Water Resources Control Board
Check out all of our upcoming
events and videos of previous events on our
NEWS
photoTAAP Team Travels to Mexico for Arizona-Mexico Commission Meeting
 
WRRC Director Sharon Megdal, International Boundary and Water Commission Mexico Section Representative Jos é de J esús Quintanar Guadarrama, and United States Geological Survey Hydrologist James Callegary co-presented an update on the Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program (TAAP) at the Arizona-Mexico Commission's Environment & Water Committee Annual Meeting, held in Puerto Pe ñasco, Sonora on November 30th. In addition to underscoring the importance of the International Boundary and Water Commission's TAAP Cooperative Process framework, the meeting also included discussion of the bilingual publication of the Binational Study of the Transboundary San Pedro Aquifer and the continuing assessment efforts along the shared border were discussed.  
 
More information about the collaborative efforts along the Arizona-Sonora border can be found by clicking the link below. 
 
 
a104gAgricultural Pilot Project and Statewide Stream Monitoring Highlighted in Nov. - Dec. WRRC Brown Bag Seminars  
 
The Fall 2017 WRRC Brown Bag Series concluded with presentations by Andrew Craddock, Analyst with Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District's (CAGRD) Water Supply Program and by Meghan Smart, an Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) Hydrologist. On November 14th, Mr Craddock provided an overview of the Yuma Mesa Pilot Rotational Fallowing project, which ran for three years beginning in 2014. Through this "proof of concept" project, CAGRD paid farmers to fallow approximately 1500 acres of farmland that would otherwise have been irrigated and then quantified the water savings and retained that amount of water in Lake Mead. Mr. Craddock also provided an excellent synopsis of CAGRD's structure and function as well as describing a range of benefits from the pilot fallowing project. On December 6th, Ms. Smart described ADEQ's innovative program to study intermittent streams using remote solar-powered photography. Although macroinvertebrate, habitat, and chemistry data were collected, the central purpose was to refine the classification of Arizona's intermittent streams according to their flow conditions. For this project, 29 cameras were installed on intermittent streams across Arizona. 151,000 photographs were taken, allowing researchers to determine the number of days per year each site showed flow. The program is being expanded to include a citizen science component that includes utilization of ADEQ's new Arizona Water Watch mobile app and crowd sourced photo processing through the website zooniverse.org.  
     
View Presentations        
apwlavonneArizona Project WET salutes LaVonne Walton
 
With more than 40 different sponsors, supporting programs from Yuma to Flagstaff to Nogales and 20 places in between, Arizona Project WET is a handful for any account manager. Funds come in at varying amounts all year long and have to go out in the form of salary to pay a team of busy people. It's a lot to juggle, but LaVonne Walton has been the patient, kind, and efficient person at the center of it all.

Lavonne monitors purchases of everything from plastic beads to help kids learn about the water cycle, to PVC pipe for making underwater robots. From crafting and managing budgets to creating final grant expense reports, LaVonne has been a valuable member of our team, making our mission possible. Though she maintains that the business manager's job is to say "no," she bends over backwards to support our mission and finds the way to say "yes" to requests from our team. We will miss LaVonne dearly, but we look forward to following her future adventures as she enjoys retired life. Who knows? Maybe we'll see her soon out volunteering at an APW event!
fordDriving and Drinking - Water 
 
Two automotive engineers at Ford Motor Company took a prize in the company's innovation competition for the design of an onboard system that collects condensation from a car's air conditioning coils, then filters and dispenses it. In the prototype, condensate is stored in a reservoir ready for use. A switch mounted inside the car activates a pump that sends chilled water from the reservoir through a spout near the dashboard. The prototype is currently in the patent review process. Thanks to the Water Efficiency Editors Blog for calling attention to this intriguing idea as reported in The New York Times.

nevadaThe WRRC Welcomes Mohamed Hamie
 
The end of every semester is always bittersweet for all of us at the WRRC, as we bid farewell to our graduating students who work so hard to help us realize our mission. At the same time, we are given the opportunity to welcome new students. This week, the WRRC welcomed Mohamed Hamie, who is joining us as a Student IT Technician. Mohamed, who began his freshman year at UA in 2017, hails from Mesa, Arizona. At the University, he is a pre-med student, majoring in Biochemistry and Mathematics, and has hopes of becoming a doctor. Mohamed will ensure that the WRRC computer systems function seamlessly, so we can continue to bring water knowledge to Arizona and beyond. Welcome to the WRRC team, Mohamed! 
registrationNew Colorado River Basin Map Offered
 

A poster-size map of the Colorado River Basin is available for purchase from the Water Education Foundation (WEF). Text on this newly redesigned map, explains the history, current conditions, and future challenges of the river. Major features depicted on the map include water projects, cities, Indian reservations, national parks and monuments, and more. Maps can be ordered on the WEF website.

 
    
ANNOUNCEMENTS
WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH CENTER